Whether Reset or Upgrade is just semantics, things fundamentally have to change – Theo Acheampong

Political analyst Theo Acheampong has stated that the terms “reset” and “upgrade,” as proposed by Ghana’s two leading political parties—the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP)—are essentially semantic distinctions.

According to him, the crucial issue is that Ghana needs a significant change in direction.He stated that despite overall economic growth, the current approach has not effectively addressed some of the major challenges facing the country.

Speaking on JoyNews Newsfile, Mr Acheampong said, “For example, the cost-of-living crisis, unemployment, inequality, and poverty—along with all the other issues that have manifested over the last two years—clearly cannot continue.”

Mr Acheampong also pointed out that, between 1991 and 2012, Ghana reduced poverty from 47% to 12%.He added that this progress was achieved without the benefit of oil production or borrowing from the capital markets.

“Since 2012, if you look at the data, you see that more foreign direct investment inflows have been coming in. However, the data actually shows that, from 2012 to the present and in all successive years, the poverty rate has increased from 4% to 27% of the population.”