The Founding President of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, has urged the government to abandon what he described as populist shortcuts and instead pursue meaningful structural reforms to address rising consumer prices in Ghana.
His caution followed a recent engagement by the Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Hon. Samuel Nartey George, with executives of MultiChoice Ghana, operators of DSTV, over pricing concerns.
“This intervention, while well-meaning in its intent to protect consumers, once again raises the recurring tension in Ghana’s economic policy space: the temptation to address market outcomes through pressure, rather than through structural reform and regulatory coordination”
Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President of IMANI Africa
His analysis comes at a time of rising household costs, prompting increased government scrutiny of pricing structures in key consumer sectors.
According to the brief, the Minister held talks with MultiChoice Ghana to express concerns about affordability, revenue leakage, and regulatory compliance. He further proposed engaging the Group CEO of MultiChoice Africa to explore adjustments to their operations in Ghana.
While IMANI acknowledged the value of public interest in the cost of services like pay-TV, it warned that such efforts risk repeating a familiar pattern in Ghanaian policy: where sustainable affordability isn’t engineered through deeper regulatory coordination and economic planning.
The think tank argued that the pricing of services like DSTV is the result of multiple systemic factors. These include exchange rate instability, which inflates the cost of licensing and satellite technology; taxes on digital services; limited market competition; and overheads in service delivery.
IMANI emphasized that these are “not mere corporate preferences,” but economic conditions that no single directive can resolve.
Cement Price Policy Debate
Drawing on recent policy experience, IMANI referenced the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s attempt to regulate cement prices through a Legislative Instrument (LI).
The draft initially proposed direct government control over factory-level pricing, which met with resistance and was eventually revised to promote transparency rather than control. IMANI described this evolution as instructive, revealing that “practical control over pricing in liberalized markets where inputs are volatile is extremely limited.”
The brief explained that while the state has a role in regulating for fairness, the best outcomes come from enforcing transparency, promoting competition, and aligning tax and regulatory regimes with market realities.
The organization stressed that efforts to intervene directly in pricing, without tackling structural barriers, would likely prove ineffective or short-lived.
“Price fairness is a by-product of good policy, not administrative pressure,” the IMANI brief stated bluntly. It warned that unless the state actively promotes competition and addresses the cost drivers embedded in the economy, consumer relief will remain elusive.
The think tank proposed a more sustainable path forward for government intervention in the pay-TV and data sectors. These include incentivizing local streaming services and reducing entry barriers to create competition, reforming digital service taxation, and enforcing clearer content and billing regulations.
According to the brief, “Hon. Samuel George’s efforts reflect a genuine desire to protect the public from rising costs in an era of economic strain.”
But IMANI argued that no meaningful price drop can be achieved unless the state confronts the underlying issues of foreign exchange exposure, inefficient tax policy, and weak regulatory institutions.
It warned that focusing on pricing pressure alone, even when politically attractive, risks compounding long-term challenges.
Franklin Cudjoe’s broader concern reflected IMANI’s consistent call for disciplined, evidence-based governance. The brief underscored that the future of economic justice in Ghana depends on leadership that resists short-term populism in favor of deeper institutional reform.
It added that any attempt to achieve price relief in critical sectors like broadcasting or telecommunications must begin by revisiting Ghana’s structural weaknesses.
As Ghana continues to navigate economic headwinds in 2025, the debate over the right tools for policy action is likely to intensify. IMANI’s position is a timely reminder that durable solutions lie in systemic recalibration, not surface-level directives.
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