Conversation Delves Into Feasibility Of 24-hour Economy

The feasibility of a 24-hour economy as proposed by National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential aspirant John Dramani Mahama has sparked myriad reactions from all angles of the country and stakeholders as it has become a subject of contention.

The former President announced his intention to introduce the “game changer” during an engagement with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on November 7 to create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth through a three-shift system in all sectors of the economy.

But reacting to this, the Vice President who will be running for Presidency on the ticket of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) argued that the policy was already operational in the country.

“John Mahama says he has a new idea. What is the idea? He says he wants a 24-hour economy. He doesn’t even understand that policy. Today in Ghana, our hospitals work 24 hours, our electricity company works 24 hours, our water company works 24 hours, our fuel stations work 24 hours, and many chop bars work 24 hours. He also emphasized that, because of digitalization, you can transfer money 24 hours, you can receive money 24 hours… So he doesn’t understand his policy. It doesn’t make sense,” Mahamudu Bawumia said.

Amid the banter, a conversation with a yoghurt manufacturer shared online by the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, has delved into the feasibility of the policy if introduced in the country.

Per the conversation, the company said it sometimes operates the policy and does so with five part-time staff.

According to him, there is a “huge” market to serve, which will make the proposal desirable, however, other incentives discourage them from venturing into full-time production.

“The thing is, we need more cold distribution vans to meet sales targets and produce more. Earlier this year, a mini cold van I bought for Euros 7k Euros in Belgium ended up costing almost Euros 15k by the time I cleared it in Ghana. If tax incentives reduce the cost of cold vans, we can buy 10 more, hire 30 staff and do proper 24 hours.

“Now, we need about 10 more cold vans but the duties are killing us..so we are managing our 7 vans and working 8-10 hours until we have resources to buy more vans… It’s all about targeting incentives. Someone requires cheaper power at night. We need cheaper distribution vans to produce 24/7. Once we produce more, we must distribute more, requiring more cold vans. We already have the technical capacity to double production.”