Opinion By Timothy Dotsey (A Research Consultant in the Volta Region, and Administrator at Ho Technical University)
The government’s decision to implement a 24-hour economy is one of the most promising economic policy initiatives Ghana has pursued in recent years. If properly implemented, it could expand production, create employment, improve the use of public infrastructure and give businesses more opportunities to serve consumers beyond conventional working hours.
The policy is broader than simply keeping shops open throughout the night. According to the official 24H+ programme, it is intended to promote continuous production, value addition, industrialisation and export development. It seeks to enable farms, factories, transport systems, ports, digital services and other productive sectors to operate in multiple shifts. This is an excellent idea because an economy cannot grow rapidly when expensive machinery, public facilities and human resources remain underutilised for a substantial part of each day.
However, the government’s emphasis on constructing dedicated 24-hour model markets across the country deserves careful reconsideration. President John Dramani Mahama has explained that the proposed markets will provide banking services, storage facilities, restaurants, crèches, clinics, security and fire protection. These facilities are undoubtedly important and could improve the conditions under which traders operate. The concern is whether constructing a market and labelling it a “24-hour market” will necessarily make people trade there throughout the night.
A market operates because buyers and sellers have a reason to be present. It does not operate merely because a building has been provided.
If sufficient patronage does not exist after midnight, traders cannot be compelled to keep their shops open. They must pay for electricity, transportation, security and additional workers. Unless night-time sales cover these expenses, many traders will naturally close their businesses at the usual time. Ghana may therefore end up with attractive modern markets that operate mainly during the day, defeating the central purpose for which they were constructed.
This does not mean that modern markets are unnecessary. Existing markets require better sanitation, storage, fire protection, lighting and security. The point is that 24-hour markets should emerge from demonstrated economic demand. Before constructing one in every district, the government should conduct local demand assessments, identify areas with significant night-time commercial activity and pilot the concept in strategically selected locations. Markets close to transport terminals, industrial zones, ports, border posts, hospitals and university communities may have a stronger chance of sustaining extended operations than markets selected primarily to achieve geographical distribution.
One powerful but insufficiently discussed way of stimulating a 24-hour economy is to position universities and other tertiary institutions as anchor institutions for continuous economic activity.
Ghana has public universities, technical universities, private universities, colleges of education, nursing training colleges and other tertiary institutions located across the country. These institutions already bring together thousands of students, lecturers, administrators, researchers, transport operators, food vendors, accommodation providers and technology businesses. Equipping selected institutions to operate extended academic and support services would create predictable night-time demand that could encourage surrounding businesses to extend their operating hours voluntarily.
A university-based 24-hour system would not mean forcing students and lecturers to attend classes at 2 a.m. It would involve a carefully regulated shift arrangement. Selected lectures could be organised in the evenings; libraries, computer laboratories, innovation centres and study facilities could remain open throughout the night; postgraduate and professional programmes could run after normal working hours; and administrative and digital support services could operate in staggered shifts.
The approach would particularly benefit workers who want to pursue higher education but cannot attend lectures during the day. It could also ease pressure on lecture halls and laboratories. Instead of spending millions of cedis immediately on additional buildings, institutions could use the same facilities across longer periods. A laboratory used for only eight hours a day could serve additional groups in the evening. This would improve the return on public investment in educational infrastructure.
International experience demonstrates that tertiary institutions can support extended-hour systems. The University of Manchester, for example, operates its Alan Gilbert Learning Commons on a 24/7 basis during the academic term. The facility gives students continuous access to technology-enabled individual and group study spaces. Similar extended-hour libraries and learning facilities exist in universities in the United States, Europe and parts of Asia. These institutions recognise that modern education, research and innovation do not always fit within the traditional 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule.
The wider economic effect could be significant. When a university library, laboratory or innovation centre remains active at night, students and staff require food, transport, printing, internet services, pharmacies, convenience shops and secure accommodation. Restaurants and transport operators near the campus then have genuine commercial reasons to introduce night shifts. Private security companies recruit more workers. Banks and financial technology companies extend digital and physical support. Electricity and telecommunications providers improve service reliability. In this way, the private sector responds to real demand rather than to a government directive.
The lesson from London’s night-time enterprise-zone pilots is also instructive. The initiative did not depend solely on constructing new commercial buildings. It combined extended opening hours with events, improved lighting, business support, public-space management and measures to make people feel safe. According to the Greater London Authority, high-street footfall increased by 22 per cent during the pilot. The lesson for Ghana is clear: night-time economic activity grows when people have compelling reasons to be present and can move, work and trade safely.
Selected university communities could therefore become Ghana’s first regulated 24-hour economic zones. Pilot locations could include Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast, Tamale, Ho and Takoradi, where tertiary institutions already coexist with established transport, accommodation and commercial networks. The results should be evaluated before the programme is expanded.
Such pilots must be supported by reliable systems. Streetlights must work. Police patrols and campus security must be strengthened. Public transport must be available at night and its routes clearly organised. Electricity, water and internet services must be dependable. Labour regulations must protect employees from exploitation, excessive working hours and unsafe conditions. Night workers should receive appropriate compensation, rest periods, transportation and healthcare protection.
The government should also avoid measuring the success of the 24-hour economy by the number of buildings constructed or businesses displaying 24-hour signs. The more meaningful indicators are additional jobs created, production generated during extended shifts, increased business revenue, export growth, facility-utilisation rates and improvements in household income.
The 24-hour economy cannot be created through infrastructure alone. It must be built around production, demand, safety, mobility, technology and human activity. Modern markets can form part of the programme, but they should not become its defining feature.
Ghana should begin with institutions and sectors that already possess the population, infrastructure and potential demand required to sustain extended operations. Universities and other tertiary institutions offer one of the strongest starting points. When they operate longer, responsibly and strategically, they can create an ecosystem that encourages transport providers, food vendors, technology firms, retailers, financial institutions and other businesses to follow.
The 24-hour economy is an excellent national vision. Its success, however, will depend on whether Ghana builds an economic system that remains productive after dark, not simply buildings that remain illuminated throughout the night.
Opinion By Timothy Dotsey (A Research Consultant in the Volta Region, and Administrator at Ho Technical University)
