Senior Partner at AB & David Africa, David Ofosu-Dorte, has highlighted several areas in which President John Dramani Mahama has performed strongly during his first year in office, commending the administration for stabilising critical sectors of the economy.
He made the remarks during a roundtable discussion on John Mahama 2.0: Thematic Assessment of Year One, aired on Channel One TV on Tuesday, January 13, 2026.
Mr. Ofosu-Dorte said the government has delivered in areas that were most urgently required following its assumption of office, particularly efforts to halt further deterioration after a challenging economic period.
“What was required when we had moved from a situation of DDEP, an IMF situation and all the chaos surrounding it. For me, any good manager will tell you that in such a situation, the first thing is to stop deterioration,” he said.
Road Infrastructure
On road infrastructure, Mr. Ofosu-Dorte noted that the government has taken steps to prevent further deterioration of existing roads.
“One is the road sector; if a road is deteriorating, what has been put in place to ensure that the deterioration stops? And I think there are a lot of examples which have come on your station. Quite a lot of examples of road projects. But this is stage one. Stop deterioration doesn’t mean you should rest on your laurels,” he explained.
Energy Sector Debt
Touching on the energy sector, he commended the government for addressing longstanding debt challenges and putting in place payment arrangements to clear arrears.
“The energy sector debt huge one; it has been perennial; it has been with us since about 2007, thereabout. There are times it appears to go and come back. It fluctuates. I did hear that as of December 31, 2025, GHC1.4 billion arrears have been paid.
“I’m aware there have been some arrangements to pay the arrears over a period. It appears they are ahead of schedule with payments. That is a significant attempt to stop deterioration. And that is quite important,” he remarked.
Student Accommodation
Mr. Ofosu-Dorte also praised the government’s efforts to address student accommodation deficits, particularly at the University of Ghana.
“Another example is to promise to supply student accommodation, I’m sure you have heard about the 10,000 student hostel for the University of Ghana. Where you have a University which says it has 40,000 students in shortage in accommodation.
“Attempting to supply a quarter of it, in year one, even though it has not been achieved, is an attempt to stop deterioration. It’s by these I measure,” he said.
Power Supply Stability
Regarding power supply, he observed significant stability in the sector, suggesting that the era of persistent outages, commonly referred to as dumsor, has been largely contained.
“Let’s take the power sector apart from the payment. I don’t know if dumsor has returned or ‘dum sie sie’. To the best of my knowledge, from where I stay and work, there has been a large amount of stability,” he stated.
He attributed the improvement to increased transparency and better cash flow management within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
“How was the power debt paid? It appears it was simple transparency to see what goes into the ECG, what the cash flow mechanism is like and how we are able to collect and apply a method that we have talked about but has never been implemented. That is a good attempt to stop deterioration,” he added.
Conclusion
Mr. Ofosu-Dorte concluded that when assessed from the perspectives of roads, power stability, and student accommodation, the Mahama administration has recorded strong performance in its first year.
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