The government will construct a 10,000-bed student hostel at the University of Ghana to address longstanding accommodation challenges on the campus, President John Dramani Mahama has announced.
The President made the announcement on Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at the opening of the University of Ghana’s 77th Annual New Year School and Conference, where he outlined his administration’s infrastructure, economic and governance priorities.
“When I went to Singapore, we signed an agreement for a 10,000-student hostel at the University of Ghana and this is going to be a prefabricated building, meaning the structure will be manufactured elsewhere and then assembled on campus,” President Mahama said.
He disclosed that preparatory work for the project had already begun, adding that machinery and factory equipment for the manufacture of the hostel components had been shipped from Singapore and were currently en route to Accra.
President Mahama said the hostel project formed part of a broader vision to build a sustainable Ghana anchored on a productive, diversified and resilient economy capable of withstanding shocks while creating opportunities for all.
“A sustainable Ghana must rest on a productive, diversified and resilient economy, one that is capable of withstanding shocks while creating opportunity for all,” he said.
He stressed the need for Ghana to move away from excessive dependence on raw material exports, announcing that government would roll out a policy this year to require value addition to minerals, petroleum and agricultural products before export.
“Our development model must decisively move away from excessive dependence on raw material exports towards value addition, industrial production and knowledge-based enterprise,” President Mahama said.
24-hour economy
According to him, the 24-hour economy and the accelerated export development programme were central to this transformation agenda, noting that the policy was not a slogan but a structural strategy.
“This program is not a slogan; it is a structural transformation strategy to extend productivity beyond daylight hours, deepen manufacturing, support logistics and agro-processing and create millions of decent jobs across the value chain,” he said.
President Mahama said these initiatives were being supported by urgent economic reforms that had already yielded measurable results. He pointed to a stable currency, falling inflation, reduced public debt and improved foreign reserves.
“Inflation [has fallen] from 23.8 percent at the end of 2024 to just above five percent by the end of 2025,” he said, adding that debt had declined from above 66 percent of GDP to 45 percent, while foreign reserves rose from US$8.9 billion to US$13.8 billion over the same period.
On infrastructure, the President said government invested more than US$13 billion in 2025 under the Big Push Programme and had allocated US$30.8 billion for the initiative in 2026.
“In 2026 we have allocated a whopping sum of 30.8 billion dollars for the Big Push program,” he said, noting that the funding would support major improvements in roads, rail, aviation, health, education, agribusiness and manufacturing.
Accra–Kumasi Expressway
He identified the Accra–Kumasi Expressway as one of the iconic projects under the programme, describing the current congestion between Ghana’s two largest cities as unacceptable.
“The traffic between these two cities is a shame that we have a single lane road linking to all major cities,” he said, adding that construction of the expressway would commence early this year.
Green digital city
President Mahama also announced plans to inaugurate a task force to begin the demarcation and design of a green digital city spanning three regions, which would host some government offices to decongest Accra.
“For those people who miscommunicate and try to twist my words, the new city will not be the capital. The capital will continue to be the seat of the government and it will be the capital of Ghana.”
On fiscal policy, the President said Ghana would exit the IMF Extended Credit Facility programme by mid-2026, expressing hope that it would be the country’s final bailout.
Touching on governance, President Mahama said accountability would be strengthened through the establishment of an independent Value for Money Office and the passage of the Code of Public Officers Bill.
For more news, join The Chronicle Newspaper channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBSs55E50UqNPvSOm2z
The post Mahama announces 10k-bed hostel for Legon appeared first on The Ghanaian Chronicle.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS