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Claim: Ex-Ghanaian Deputy Finance Minister Dr Stephen Amoah alleges the country’s agricultural sector growth was 2.7%, the industrial sector was 4.3%, and the services sector was 2.8% in 2016.
Verdict: Misleading! Although an earlier report by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) showed that Ghana recorded the data the ex-minister mentioned, it has been revised. Following the rebasing of the Ghanaian economy in 2017, the agriculture growth was revised to 3.0%, the industrial sector to 4.3%, and the services sector to 5.7%. The GSS reports published in September 2017 and April 2018 revealed the revised data.
Full Text
President John Mahama delivered his first State of the Nation Address since his successful comeback victory at the 2024 presidential poll.
He decried the country’s state and noted the economy he inherited was “criminally managed.”
“It is common knowledge that our economy is in dire straits, which is putting it mildly because, after an initial assessment of the books, we have discovered that our economic problems are much deeper than was publicly known. We have inherited a country that is broken on many fronts. The profundities of the challenges are staggering,” the President said.
Reacting to the address, ex-Ghanaian Finance Minister Stephen Amoah said that President Nana Akufo-Addo handed Mahama a better economy than in 2016.
He said agricultural growth was 2.7% in 2016, industrial sector growth was 4.3%, and service sector growth was 2.8%.
See the ex-minister’s comment at minute 22:32 of the video posted on YouTube by Accra-based JOY NEWS.
The social media data showed the video has received over 14,683 views and 53 comments as of Mar. 3, 2025.
DUBAWA decided to probe the claim as part of its campaign against misinformation and disinformation in Ghana.
Verification
DUBAWA’s investigation showed that the data the ex-Ghanaian finance minister, Stephen Amoah, repeated was misleading.
Although an earlier report by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) showed that Ghana recorded the data the ex-minister mentioned, it has been revised.
Following the rebasing of the Ghanaian economy in 2017, the agriculture growth was revised to 3.0%, the industrial sector was 4.3%, and the services sector was 5.7%.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has defined rebasing as “the process by which constant price aggregates are updated using the prices of a more recent period.”
A screenshot of a report the GSS published in April 2018
Mr Amoah was right that the industrial sector’s growth in 2016 was 4.3%. However, the agricultural and service sector data do not match the figure the GSS published.
The GSS reports published in September 2017 and April 2018 revealed the revised data.
Conclusion
Given the GSS revised data, it is misleading for Stephen Amoah to claim that Ghana’s agricultural sector growth was 2.7%, the industrial sector was 4.3%, and the services sector was 2.8% in 2016.
