President Nana Akufo-Addo says that the country’s economic growth rate in 2016 was its lowest in over 20 years.
Ghana’s 2016 economic growth rate was an improvement of what was recorded in 2014 and 2015, according to figures from the Bank of Ghana, the World Bank and the IMF.
Full Text
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says that the country’s economic growth rate, recorded in 2016, was its lowest in 20 years.
He was speaking at Accra-based Peace FM as part of his tour in the Greater Accra Region on Thursday October 21, 2021.
“When I came in 2017, the last year of the predecessor government, the rate of growth of the economy, 3.4 percent – the lowest in over 20 years. In our first year, the rate of growth was over 8 per cent; the second year, 7 per cent; the third year, 6 point something. On average. The growth rate of the economy between 2017 and 2020 on the onset of COVID was 7 per cent. The 7 per cent economic growth that made us one of the fastest-growing economies in the world,” the President said.
The President’s interview was streamed live on UTV Ghana Online’s Youtube Channel.
He said this between minute 21:00 and 22:00 of the video (Youtube) which can also be found on Facebook.
President Akufo-Addo’s interview has garnered over 15,000 views
Verification
To verify the claim by President Akufo-Addo, we will refer to Ghana’s economic growth rate figures from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bank of Ghana, and the Ministry of Finance.
We first put up the figures given by President Akufo-Addo against the ones from the four aforementioned institutions.
| Year | Akufo-Addo | World Bank | IMF | Bank of Ghana | Finance Ministry |
| 2016 | 3.4% | 3.37% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.6% in 2017 budget but 3.7% in 2018 Mid-year budget |
| 2017 | 8% | 8.1% | 8.1% | 8.1% | 8.5% |
| 2018 | 7% | 6.2% | 6.2% | 6.3% | 6.3% |
| 2019 | 6% | 6.5% | 6.5% | N/A | 6.5% |
However, the matter under contention is his statement that the growth rate of the last year of the previous government is the country’s lowest in over 20 years (2000-2020).
To ascertain the truth or otherwise of this claim, we refer to figures from the World Bank, IMF, Bank of Ghana and the Finance Ministry from 2000 to 2020.
| Year | World Bank | IMF | Bank of Ghana | Min. of Finance |
| 2000 | 3.7% | 3.6% | 3.7% | 3.7% |
| 2001 | 4% | 3.8% | 4.2% | 4.2% |
| 2002 | 4.5% | 4.6% | 4.5% | 4.5% |
| 2003 | 5.2% | 5.1% | 5.2% | 5.2% |
| 2004 | 5.6% | 5.4% | 5.6% | 5.8% |
| 2005 | 5.9% | 6.2% | 5.9% | 5.8% (Half of year) |
| 2006 | 6.4% | 5.8% | 6.4% | 6.2% (as of September 2006) |
| 2007 | 4.347% | 4.1% | 4.3% | 6.3% |
| 2008 | 9.15% | 9.0% | 9.1% | 6.2% |
| 2009 | 4.844% | 5.7% | 4.8% | 4.7% as of September 2009 but 4.0 quoted in 2012 budget |
| 2010 | 7.9% | 7.8% | 7.9% | 5.9% (as of September) but 7.7 quoted in 2012 budget |
| 2011 | 14.047% | 13.9% | 14.0% | 13.6% in 2012 budget but 14.4% quoted in 2013 budget |
| 2012 | 9.293% | 8.4% | 9.30% | 7.1% |
| 2013 | 7.313% | 7.2% | 7.4% | 7.4% |
| 2014 | 2.856% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 6.9% as at June 2014 |
| 2015 | 2.121% | 2.1% | 2.2% | 4.1% |
| 2016 | 3.373% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.6% in 2017 budget but 3.7% in 2018 Mid-year budget |
| 2017 | 8.129% | 8.1% | 8.1% | 8.5% |
| 2018 | 6.2% | 6.2% | 6.3% | 6.3% |
| 2019 | 6.508% | 6.5% | N/A | 6.5% |
| 2020 | 0.414% | 0.4% | N/A | 0.4% |
Evidently, Ghana’s 3.4 percent economic growth recorded in 2016 was higher than what was recorded in 2015 and 2014, highlighted in yellow above.
Conclusion
It is not true that Ghana’s economic rate in 2016 is the country’s lowest in over 20 years. The economic growth rate for 2016 is higher than what was recorded in 2014 and 2015, according to figures from the Bank of Ghana, the World Bank and the IMF.
This report was produced under the Dubawa Student Fact-checking Project aimed at offering students in tertiary schools aspiring to take up roles in the profession the opportunity to acquire real-world experience through verification and fact-checking.
