Government plans round-the-clock modern markets in all 261 districts under 24-Hour Economy scheme

Pinned summary · as of 05:30

Ghana is preparing to rebuild its open-air markets as modern trading centres that stay open day and night, under a scheme launched by President John Dramani Mahama. The plan covers every one of the country's 261 districts and is being led by the Local Government Ministry (which also handles chieftaincy and religious affairs) together with the district assemblies. Simon Madjie, who heads the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority, set out the case for it in a piece carried by Citi Newsroom and Onua Online.

What we know

• The 24-Hour Economy Markets Initiative was introduced by President Mahama to give traders decent, up-to-date places to sell in all parts of Ghana.
• The Local Government Ministry, which also covers chieftaincy and religious affairs, is in charge of the programme and is working with the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies. Money for the work is to go directly to those assemblies so that communities feel a sense of ownership.
• Traditional markets in the 261 districts are to become multipurpose facilities that operate around the clock. Planned features include shops, warehouses, cold rooms, banking and digital-payment counters, sanitation blocks, eating places, crèches and clinics, plus posts for the police and the fire service.
• Mr Madjie, writing about the scheme, said open-air markets handle roughly 60% of all retail sales in Ghana, against 36% for convenience and small grocery shops and 4% for supermarkets. He added that they sell more than 90% of local staple foods and over 85% of fast-moving consumer goods.
• Mr Madjie put a typical traditional market's yearly turnover at about US$4 million, drawing on older estimates by the World Bank and by the Foreign Agricultural Service of the US Department of Agriculture. He also estimated that 95% of Ghanaians favour shopping in open markets because they are cheaper and easier to reach.
• Mr Madjie listed poor sanitation, crowding, ageing infrastructure, frequent fires and food-safety worries among the problems of existing markets. In his view, the new markets should cut post-harvest losses, open up jobs for women and young people, and bring more revenue to the assemblies.
• He argued that registering traders digitally could bring them into the formal economy and make it easier for them to obtain loans.
• Under Ghana's investment laws, among them Act 1173 of 2026 that superseded Act 865, small-scale trading and selling from a market stall are open only to Ghanaians.
• Officials from the investment promotion body and the trade ministry recently held talks with traders' groups, among them GUTA (the Ghana Union of Traders Association). Measures on fronting, tighter checks and better record-keeping followed. Mr Madjie said digitised stall and trader records would help spot suspected fronting and enforce the restrictions, and he urged the trade groups to join in.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Reports say people from outside Ghana still work in parts of the retail trade set aside for Ghanaians, which keeps causing friction with local traders. This is described as a report rather than an established finding, and no evidence or figures were given.
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  Onua Online quoted Mr Madjie as saying open-air markets make about 20% of retail sales of high-value food imports, that around 85% of big importers' and distributors' business passes through open markets, and that about 80% of wholesalers, sub-wholesalers and super-retailers trade in them. No other report carried these numbers.
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  Onua Online said Mr Madjie presented the scheme as an answer to long-running complaints from GUTA and other associations about foreign nationals in reserved retail activities, and that it would support tax compliance and access to working capital. Citi Newsroom did not carry this framing.

Why it matters for Ghana

Most Ghanaian households buy their food and daily goods in open markets, so changes to how those places are built and run touch prices, hygiene and the safety of the food on sale. Traders in Accra, Kumasi, Tamale and district towns could gain from cold storage, banking services and access to credit, but the reports give no start date, budget or list of first markets. The link to enforcement of trades reserved for Ghanaians will also matter to members of GUTA and to foreign traders working in the retail sector.