Mahama meets CEOs ahead of Ghana Summit

More than 100 of Ghana’s most senior business executives made their way to Jubilee House this week, sitting down with President John Dramani Mahama ahead of the 10th Ghana CEO Summit & Expo, scheduled for May 28, 2026.

The delegation, drawn from a national network of over 1,000 business leaders spanning key sectors of the economy, was led by Ernest De-Graft Egyir, Founding CEO of Chief Executives Network Ghana. The meeting covered ground ranging from macroeconomic policy to a bold proposal for turning Ghanaian companies into globally competitive multinationals.

Mahama used the engagement to restate his administration’s position on private sector development, pointing to the 24-Hour Economy Policy as a cornerstone of efforts to boost productivity, maximise infrastructure use, and widen employment. He also stressed the importance of the Accelerated Export Agenda, a push to move Ghana away from exporting raw materials toward value addition and industrialisation, while flagging fiscal discipline and prudent debt management as areas where his government has made measurable progress.

The CEOs came with more than pleasantries. They presented a Presidential Recommendation Memorandum outlining priorities for deeper government-private sector collaboration, covering regulatory efficiency, energy competitiveness, SME growth, digital transformation, access to finance, and Ghana’s positioning within the African Continental Free Trade Area.

The headline proposal from the delegation was the Ghana Global Champions Initiative, a strategic framework designed to deliberately build Ghanaian and African-owned businesses into multinational corporations capable of competing on the world stage. The group also floated the idea of a formal institutional partnership between the Office of the President and the Ghana CEO Summit, effectively creating a standing presidential-private sector dialogue platform.

Egyir, speaking on behalf of the delegation, praised Mahama’s handling of fiscal consolidation and debt stewardship, and reaffirmed the network’s commitment to investing and expanding operations in support of Ghana’s broader development agenda.