Having secured a second term in office – albeit this being contested by the opposition National Democratic Congress – President Nana Akufo-Addo is already planning how to execute his plans for Ghana’s economy from 2021 to 2024 and leave an unforgettable legacy. Considering how committed he has proved to be with regards to structural change for the economy his legacy will certainly be unforgettable; what is still uncertain however is whether this will be because of the positive changes the ongoing transformational policies is wreaking or whether it will be because the transformation will ultimately prove to be a negative one. Most economic commentators however are already giving the President the thumbs up for sheer effort – structural economic change has long been identified as necessary but successive administrations in the past have failed to muster the political will to implement change especially considering that few positive results can be achieved within the four year political cycle that constrain the policies, programmes and policies of elected governments in Ghana. For instance, point out the President’s supporters, the large resources spent so far by his administration on developing a modern, functional railwa1y system have gone largely under the radar of the electorate because the infrastructure is still far from complete. This type of public expenditure has been politically risky – indeed which explains why no previous administration has tried to develop the railway system with Ghana’s own resources – but now that President Akufo-Addo has got away with it, having secured a second and final term in office, he can pull out all the stops with regards to public spending on medium to long term infrastructural projects, since he will never have to answer to the electorate again. The situation is not quite as simple as that though – his party will pressure him towards populist policies that promote the political standing of whoever succeeds him as the New Patriotic Party’s flagbearer. But Akufo-Addo is his own, man – as evidenced by his insistence on taking Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia as his running mate for his first two attempts at winning the presidential elections despite protestations by many senior party bigwigs – and after seeking to become President for nearly half of his entire life time, he can be expected to prioritize his legacy over his party’s subsequent electoral positioning. Instructively, there are no headline policy promises in NPP’s 2020 election manifesto, unlike in 2016 when the promise of free Senior High School education served as the social intervention headliner and the One District One Factory initiative served as the flagship policy with regards to the economy. Actually though the absence of similar headline promises for the second term is for good reason – the task of fundamental restructuring of Ghana’s economy as set out in the 2016 manifesto is one for the full two terms, which means that the second term will be largely devoted to completing the tasks begun during the first term. For instance the digital addressing system, national ID card project and the compulsory tax identification numbering implemented during the first term are now to be combined to create an unprecedentedly wide tax net during the second term. Similarly the financial sector reforms implemented during the first term are now to provide the foundation for private sector financing of economic expansion and diversification during the second term. Instructively, the last time such deep restructuring was attempted was with the liberalization of the economy through the Economic Recovery Programme which commenced in 1985. That programme was forced down the throats of a protesting populace – because of the short term negative effects – by a military dictatorship. However, barely a decade later the medium to long term effects of that restructuring had shown themselves to be so good that the same erstwhile military dictatorship, having transformed into a political party under a pluralistic democracy, was able to sweep the polls at free and fair elections. The President Akufo-Ado administration is now hoping that history will repeat itself for similar reasons as it attempts to take Ghana’s economy to the next level, in line with the country’s relatively new position as having a middle-income economy. To achieve this it seeks to build on its restructuring efforts started since 2017 rather than veering off on a new course altogether. However the outbreak of COVID 19 has forced significant changes to the fiscal game plan. “That COVID 19 has exposed our vulnerabilities as a nation cannot be over-emphasized” admits President Akufo-Addo. “It has however also revealed opportunities that we must seize. Together these have underscored the salience of the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda and an urgency to accelerate its implementation.” Key to doing this is the closest thing to a headline policy initiative for the President’s second term: the Ghana COVID 19 Alleviation and Revitalization of Enterprises (Ghana CARES) Programme. The initial stabilization phase of the programme is already being concluded, having been implemented from July to December this year. However the core of the prohgramme is to be executed over the three year period 2021 to 2023 and aims to restore pre COVID 19 economic growth levels 9of above six percent) and return the fisvcal deficit to below five percent as established by the currently suspended Fiscal Responsibility Act. Through the Ghana CARES prohgramme, over the next thre years, government plans to: Pursue the establishment of Ghana as a regional hub by leveraging the siting of the Agfrica Continental Free Trade Area in Ghana and will include the establishment of an International Financial Services Centre; Review and optimize the implementation of the One DFistrict One Factory initiative, the Planting for Food and Jobs programme and free SHS that depend primarily on government’s budget finance gfor greater fresults, value for money and fiscal sustainability; Complement the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative with a targeted programme to support the activities of the Ghana Tree Crop Development Authority in promoting selected cash crops, support commercial farming and attract educated youth into