By Samuel Lartey(Prof)
Ghana’s political and economic landscapes are undergoing profound transitions. With a new administration taking office in January 2025, led by President John Dramani Mahama, the nation is confronted with both opportunity and uncertainty.
The government’s commitment to reform rooted in debt restructuring, IMF-backed austerity, and sustainable growth strategies demands a disciplined and dynamic approach to managing institutional and organizational change.
In this environment, change management emerges as a critical lever guiding financial strategy formulation, ensuring profitability in turbulent times, and cementing long-term sustainability. From public financial reform to corporate restructuring, change management provides the structure, communication, and strategic foresight needed to realign institutions with national priorities and global economic pressures.
- Political Transition and the Need for Financial Transformation
President Mahama’s return to office has been marked by a decisive shift in fiscal policy. His government’s pledge to overhaul the IMF’s $3 billion support programme and initiate “economic shock therapy” is aimed at stabilizing Ghana’s finances by achieving 4% GDP growth and reducing inflation from 25% in 2023 to 11.9% by the end of 2025 (Reuters, 2025).
In the face of such structural shifts, both public institutions and private enterprises must adapt swiftly. Here, change management becomes the enabler fostering agility, accountability, and continuity across departments and sectors.
Ministries such as Finance and Trade must reconfigure spending priorities, eliminate inefficiencies, and communicate policy shifts effectively. Without such management, reforms risk stalling or being reversed with every political cycle.
- Impact on Public Financial Management (PFM)
The Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), launched in 2010 and enhanced through to 2023, exemplifies successful public sector change management. It automated budgeting and expenditure controls, improving transparency and reducing leakages.
In the 2022–2026 PFM Reform Strategy, Ghana emphasized change drivers like:
- Institutional leadership
- Digital process integration
- Capacity building
- Stakeholder engagement
These interventions backed by donor support and technocratic leadership have helped Ghana improve its budget credibility and enhance expenditure tracking.
According to the World Bank (2023), Ghana’s score for budget transparency rose from 47/100 in 2019 to 58/100 in 2023. This progress was possible because of strategic change management embedded into reform design and implementation.
- The Corporate Sector: Profitability Through Transformation
In the private sector, corporate responses to political and economic changes have varied but those adopting structured change strategies have been more resilient. For example:
The banking sector, following the 2017–2019 financial clean-up, implemented board governance reforms and capital recapitalization. Banks like GCB and Ecobank emerged stronger by embracing internal transformation, adopting digital banking, and aligning with Bank of Ghana’s new compliance frameworks.
ESG integration has become a profitability driver. A 2024 study by the University of Ghana Business School found that ESG-compliant firms on the Ghana Stock Exchange attracted more foreign capital and maintained higher long-term returns despite short-term ROA drops.
Agribusinesses and manufacturers, such as Kasapreko and Blue Skies, have restructured operations by adopting circular economy practices and digital sales strategies, enhancing sustainability and market access even amid inflation and currency volatility.
These examples show that firms which embed change management principles strategic planning, communication, and employee involvement are more likely to maintain profitability and market share amid economic or political turbulence.
- Change Management in Extractive and Revenue-Sensitive Sectors
The extractive industry provides a vivid case of change management’s importance. Ghana lost approximately $11.4 billion between 2013 and 2022 to unregulated gold exports and smuggling (Reuters, 2025).
Reforms in 2023, including the reversal of a withholding tax that was driving exporters underground, restored export confidence, with $11.6 billion in formal gold exports recorded in 2024.
Similarly, COCOBOD’s poor contract management leading to up to 900% cost overruns—triggered procurement and auditing reforms in 2023. The Public Procurement Authority’s new digital platform now mandates competitive bidding and real-time reporting, directly enhancing cost control and accountability.
In both cases, effective change management frameworks including risk assessment, internal stakeholder training, and policy reengineering were key to achieving success.
- Leadership, Governance, and Long-Term Sustainability
At the heart of effective change management is leadership. Ghana’s painful experience during the 2017–2018 banking crisis, when poor governance led to the collapse of seven banks, underscores the cost of unmanaged change.
Conversely, the 2025 Fitch and S&P rating upgrade to “B–” signals investor optimism rooted in the country’s recent reform trajectory.
Incorporating change as an organizational culture—not just a response mechanism—is essential. Public agencies and companies alike must develop:
- Leadership readiness: Aligning board and executive goals with reform objectives.
- Organizational communication: Ensuring all staff understand and participate in change processes.
- Data and digital systems: Using dashboards and KPIs to track impact and adapt strategies in real time.
Conclusion
In the evolving Ghanaian landscape marked by political transitions, fiscal consolidation, and global economic shocks change management is not an option; it is a strategic imperative.
Whether in reshaping public financial strategies, driving corporate profitability, or sustaining national development goals, organizations that manage change deliberately are better positioned for stability and success. Ghana’s post-2025 recovery and institutional strengthening efforts show that reforms backed by structured, inclusive, and transparent change processes not only survive political transitions they thrive in them.
The message is clear, for Ghanaian businesses and government agencies, managing change is now the currency of resilience, prosperity, and sustainability.
