Africa-Press – Ghana. President John Dramani Mahama on Wednesday inaugurated a 13-member Presidential Advisory Group on the Economy (PAGE).
He charged the Advisory Group to provide strategic counsel on macroeconomic management, fiscal consolidation, debt sustainability and coherence between fiscal and monetary policy.
Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, who is a Member of PAGE, would chair meetings in the absence of the President, in accordance with constitutional responsibility.
The President said PAGE was to advise on structural transformation, industrial development, competitiveness, and export-led growth strategies.
He also charged the PAGE with offering guidance on sectoral development, private sector expansion, investment mobilization, and sustainable job creation, while supporting the design and implementation of flagship national initiatives, including the 24-Hour Economy, the accelerated export development program, and other productivity-enhancing reforms.
President Mahama said in addition, the PAGE was to conduct periodic assessments of Ghana’s economic performance, propose policy adjustments where necessary, and contribute expert input to Ghana’s economic negotiations and engagement with bilateral and multilateral partners, international financial institutions and investors.
He added that importantly, the PAGE shall report directly to the president, submitting advisory memoranda, briefs, and strategic reviews as and when required.
“Your counsel is therefore expected to be frank, independent, evidence-based, and anchored in the long-term national interest. PAGE is not new to our governance architecture,” the President said.
He noted that PAGE existed under the late President Professor John Evans Atta Mills, and during President Mahama’s earlier tenure in office.
It returns to be expanded and strengthened to reflect the evolving complexity of their economy.
He said the current PAGE configuration allows them to streamline economic governance by eliminating the overlapping structures, including the former economic management team.
He said PAGE would operate alongside the Economic Policy Coordinating Committee, which was jointly chaired by the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, which remains a critical technical platform.
President Mahama encouraged continued coordination among these bodies to achieve efficiency, coherence, and cost-effective governance.
He said PAGE’s counsel must help them rebuild credibility, restore fiscal discipline, attract investment, re-anchor expectations, and re-establish Ghana as a serious, predictable, and competitive economy.
“This is not simply about recovery. It is about institutional reform, structural transformation, and a permanent reset of our economic governance culture,” the President said.
He said members of PAGE would serve as national priorities and circumstances evolve, and that their advice would be sought on major economic milestones, including, amongst others, the national budget, mid-year reviews, monetary policy developments, medium-term plans, and other strategic initiatives.
The PAGE would meet at least once every quarter and hold emergency meetings.
Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang on behalf of PAGE thanked the President for the foresight that informed the establishment of this advisory group.
She said after a period of acute strain, visibility was being retained, and confidence was gradually rebuilding.
She said PAGE’s commitment was to move from crisis management to durable success.
“We will foster dialogue, intellectual honesty and collective responsibility, engage across sectors and deliver actionable advice aligned with Ghana’s long-term development vision,” she said.
Members of PAGE are Mr Ishmael Yamson, private sector leader; former Member of PAGE, Mr Kwame Pianim, Economist and private sector leader; former Member of PAGE, Madam and Nana Oye Mansa Yeboaa, a former Deputy Minister of Finance and a former Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry and a former Member of PAGE.
Others are Dr Kwabena Duffuor, an Economist, a former Finance Minister and a former Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Sir Samuel Esson Jonah, private sector leader and an industrialist; Mr Ato Brown, a former World Bank Infrastructure Specialist and; an agribusiness investor; Dr Henry A. Kofi Wampah, a former Governor of the Bank of Ghana; and Togbe Afede XIV, an economist and private sector leader.
The rest are Madam Abena Amoah, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Stock Exchange; Prof Priscilla Twumasi Baffour, an Academic Researcher; and Prof Patience Aseweh Abor, also Academic Researcher.
