It is not quite surprising to see ordinary men and women struggling endlessly to grasp the basics of the much-touted 24-hour economy; after all, the promiser has so far failed to properly articulate the economic system to the understanding of Ghanaians.

Interestingly, following my previous publication on the 24-hour economy, I have been inundated with messages from discussants, many of whom are seeking further explication on the subject matter.

As a matter of fact, a 24-hour economy is a free market economy that primarily survives on supply and demand with little or no government intervention.

So I cannot get my head around how and why the so-called experts with little or no expertise would claim somewhat incoherently and impetuously that the demand side is not a big deal in Mahama’s much-publicised 24-hour economy.

In fact, a 24-hour economy can only survive in a conducive environment replete with adequate infrastructure and/or provision of vital amenities such as electricity.

It is against this background that I honestly advised my dear brother, the mattress dealer, not to jump for joy over John Dramani Mahama’s seemingly tentative proposal.

After all, Mahama cannot compel my brother to open his store 24/7 without the needed demand for the products.

Besides, where is the guarantee that there will be no erratic electricity supply?

Indeed, apart from the all-important demand challenges, my dear brother and many self-employed people face other insurmountable hurdles, most notably, dumsor (erratic electricity supply).

Needless to say, businesses and industries did not flourish in the midst of the irritating dumsor during the erstwhile Mahama administration.

In the 2013 World Bank’s Enterprise Survey on the African Economy, with special emphasis on Nigeria and Ghana, the report concluded that ‘dumsor’ (erratic electricity supply) is the biggest obstacle to economic growth in Africa and a hindrance to businesses and industries (World Bank 2013).

Considering the level of devastation of the annoying dumsor on industries and businesses under his watch, we can understand how and why some concerned Ghanaians are extremely doubtful over former President Mahama’s much-trumpeting 24-hour economy.

As a matter of fact, businesses do not need any massive interventions from the government in order to operate 24/7.

The fact of the matter is that no government on planet Earth can legislate, compel business owners, or take total control over a 24-hour free market economy.

With all due respect and no attached condescension whatsoever, I have lived, schooled, and worked in a 24-hour free market economy for close to four decades and therefore have a tacit knowledge of the system.

The 24-hour economy is not a policy; it is an economic system already being practiced in most free-market economies, including Ghana.

My dear reader, I was quite ecstatic to see the booming night business activities in some areas in Accra and Kumasi when I visited Ghana last year.

The industrious Ghanaians are blissfully engaging in a 24-hour economy without any intervention from any government whatsoever.

My brother, the isolated thinker’s notion of legislating or spreading the 24-hour economy to cover every business, is virtually impossible, so to speak.

More so, it is quite unreasonable to hear that the same people, desperately pushing for a 24-hour economy, fecklessly sold most of Dr. Nkrumah’s industries, which were built purposely to boost Ghana’s economic growth.

My dear reader, it was the NDC tradition that perfunctorily adopted a disastrous Economic Recovery Programme (ERP), under the auspices of the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and disposed of most of the purposely built
factories.

Suffice it to say that the vast majority of tangible national assets, including state-owned enterprises, were capriciously sold to friends and families for pittance.

Given the circumstances, we can understand the concerned Ghanaians' genuine apprehension about the feasibility of Mahama’s proposed 24-hour economy.

My dear reader, I have always held a firm and unadulterated conviction that the NDC apparatchiks, who bizarrely take pride in the social democratic ideology, are not in the business of promoting the welfare of the masses but are rather on a mission to advance their parochial interests by persistently proselytising and hoodwinking the unsuspecting voters to gain electoral advantage.

As usual, the 24-hour economy proposal is a farce, similar to the one-time NHIS premium promised by the erstwhile Mahama Administration, which was destitute of honesty and integrity.