By Amoako Kwame
The Presidential Advisor on the 24-Hour Economy policy, Augustus Tanoh has clarified that the policy is designed to encourage businesses to expand production capacity and not only about the shift system.
The President John Dramani Mahama on February 19 signed of the 24-Hour Economy Authority Bill into law. The new legislation establishes the framework to coordinate implementation of the flagship programme, which the government says will boost productivity, expand exports and generate employment by encouraging industries and service providers to extend operations beyond conventional working hours.
Speaking on GBC’s Talking Point show on February 22, the presidential advisor Augustus Tanoh, underscored the importance of the policy and indicated that the government was working on the operational capacity within key sectors of the economy before rolling out the policy.
“It’s a function of capacity, it’s a function of the investment regime that allows companies to take a decision, companies operate on a margin if the marginal cost of hiring more people and producing the next output is less than the marginal value, then the policy cannot be implemented. If the economy is operating at full capacity nobody is going to tell the industry to push it (24 Hour Economy Policy).” He stated
He further explained that the policy was not just about the 1-3-3 shift system although it’s an essential factor in improving the economy’s capacity
“It’s much more than just shifts, the shift system is, is at the terminal point of all the work we have to do to enhance the productive capacity of this economy” he added
Mr Tanoh also indicated that there has been interest in scaling up the value chain of the 24-Hour economy policy from the investor community.
This comes amidst criticisms from the main opposition that the policy was just a slogan to gain political points and may not be implemented.
