“The economy is in very safe hands”, World Bank’s top official heaps praise on Ghana
For a country that just two years ago was navigating one of its worst economic crises in decades, Ghana appears to be writing a different story in 2026, and the world is beginning to take notice.
Paschal Donohoe, Managing Director and Chief Knowledge Officer of the World Bank, has offered a striking endorsement of Ghana’s economic trajectory following a high-level meeting with Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson. His words were unambiguous and, for many Ghanaians who lived through the pain of the economic downturn, perhaps long overdue.
“The economy is in very safe hands,” Donohoe said, capping off what amounted to a sweeping commendation of the government’s handling of national finances.
He described the progress recorded as a “remarkable improvement in Ghana’s national finances”, a characterization that carries significant weight coming from one of the world’s foremost development finance institutions. Going further, Donohoe positioned Ghana not just as a country on the mend, but as a stabilizing force for the broader West African region, describing it as an “anchor of stability for the region.”
The World Bank official also expressed particular appreciation for the government’s pivot toward youth development and employment creation, areas he indicated align directly with the World Bank’s own development priorities.
“I can see and appreciate your focus on youth development,” he said, noting that the institution strongly backs Ghana’s emphasis on job creation as the logical next frontier of its economic transformation agenda. He added that the World Bank “is ever ready to support” Ghana as it presses ahead with its reform programme.
But even as the accolades flowed, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson was careful not to let the moment obscure the significant challenges that remain. Speaking during the meeting, he acknowledged that while the past year had been defined by a deliberate effort to reset the economy and restore fiscal discipline, the journey is far from complete.
Unemployment, he stressed, remains a formidable obstacle, one made more pressing by the sheer scale of Africa’s youth population growth. Dr. Forson was candid about a structural reality that no government can afford to ignore: the public sector simply does not have the capacity to absorb the millions of young Africans entering the workforce each year.
His response to that challenge, he explained, lies in a suite of policies and programmes specifically designed to stimulate sustainable private-sector-led job creation, an acknowledgment that lasting employment solutions must be built beyond the boundaries of government payroll.
The meeting signals a strengthening relationship between Accra and Washington at a critical juncture, with Ghana apparently keen to convert its hard-won economic credibility into tangible development outcomes for its citizens, particularly its youth. Whether that momentum can be sustained will likely define the next chapter of Ghana’s economic story.
For now, however, the message from the World Bank is clear: Ghana has done something difficult, and it has done it well.
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