Fact-Checking 3 economy-related claims by Government Spokesperson, Felix Kwakye Ofosu

Researched by Gifty Danso 

The Minister of Government Communication, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, during his appearance on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme (archived here), on October 10, 2025, made several economy-related claims, from unemployment to currency appreciation and transport fare reduction. 

GhanaFact fact-checked three of these claims in this report.

Claim 1

“Ghanaian youth bore the brunt. Unemployment reached catastrophic levels. In fact, by the time they (the NPP) left office, unemployment hovered around 14%. In absolute terms, we were talking 2 million young people who didn’t have jobs,” he said (between 58:00 to 58:14). 

Was unemployment around 14% when the previous administration left office?

Fact-check

According to the most recent labour statistics released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in July 2025, the unemployment rate fell to 13.1% in the last quarter of 2024. 

“The national unemployment rate declined from a peak of 14.9 per cent in 2023 Q1 to 13.1 per cent in 2024 Q4, though female unemployment remained higher than male unemployment, with the gender gap narrowing from 7.4 to 3.9 percentage points,” the GSS said in its report (find here). 

Verdict

The claim is therefore overstated

Claim 2

“When you speak about the economy, there are objective parameters that you use; it is not subject to opinion. For instance, the currency, in recent times, has been the best performing in the world; this year it has appreciated by 21% compared to the same period last year, it had lost 27% of its value,” he said (between 1:05:51 to 1:02:13). 

Has the cedi appreciated by 21%, and did it lose 27% of its value at the same time last year?

Fact-check

According to the Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Report released in September 2025, the Ghana cedi has appreciated by 21.60% year-to-date. 

“Taking into consideration our major trade partners’ currency movements, the cedi appreciated by 14.22 percent, and 21.60 percent, in nominal trade weighted terms and nominal forex transaction weighted terms, respectively, on a year-to-date basis in July 2025,” the Central Bank noted (see page 6 of the report). 

This rate is corroborated by the World Bank in its October 2025 edition of the Africa Pulse report, where it states that the Ghana cedi has appreciated by over 20% year-to-date. 

“The Ghanaian cedi appreciated by more than 20 percent year-to-date over the first eight months of 2025, after weakening by 19 percent in 2024,” it said (See page 27 of Africa Pulse Report). 

From the above, Kwakye Ofosu’s claim about 21% appreciation of the cedi in 2025 is True.

But did the cedi experience 27% depreciation by the same period last year?

According to the Bank of Ghana, in the same period last year, the cedi had depreciated by 24.3%. This was captured in the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) statement released in September 2024.  

“From the beginning of the year to 25th September 2024, the Ghana cedi depreciated by 24.3 per cent against the U.S dollar,” the MPC said. 

From the above, Kwakye Ofosu’s claim that the cedi depreciated by 27% by end of Q3 of 2024 is False.

Verdict

The claim in its entirety is therefore rated as Mixed. 

Claim 3

“Transport prices went down by 15%. Indeed, the transport minister informs me that since the arrangement was put in place between the government and the transport operators, about 10 years ago, to do bi-yearly price adjustments, depending on the movement of certain factors and the cost of inputs, the 15% reduction is the single biggest in the history of that arrangement.

“And it reflected in the level of confidence the transport operators had in the economy because of the reliefs they were getting from the improvements that had accrued from the appreciation of the cedi,” he said (between 1:06:45 to 1:07:23). 

Is the 15% reduction in transport fares the highest ever?

Fact-check

News reports about the announcement of transport fare reduction indicate that the Ghana Private Road and Transport Operators (GPRTU) and the Ghana Road Transport Coordinating Council, in December 2022, reduced transport fares by 15.3% (here, here, and here).

Therefore, the 15% reduction announced in May 2025 will not be the single biggest reduction as the minister had claimed. 

Verdict

The claim is False