President John Dramani Mahama has stressed the need for Ghana to mobilise more domestic financial resources to sustainably support its education sector, cautioning that long-term progress cannot depend solely on external assistance.
Speaking at the 2025 Doha Forum in Qatar, President Mahama said that while international support remains valuable, meaningful transformation in education must be driven by consistent, reliable internal funding grounded in national commitment and ownership.
He pointed to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) as a proven model for domestic resource mobilisation. The fund, financed through a 2.5% VAT levy on goods and services, has become an important source of revenue for educational development.
“At a point in time, we realised that education was a key sector to Ghana’s progress and development, and so as a nation we decided to contribute to everything we purchase 2.5% VAT, and that goes into the Ghana Education Trust Fund. That fund alone is able to mobilise sufficient revenue,” he told participants.
President Mahama noted that strengthening domestic revenue systems is essential to reducing reliance on donor funds and ensuring stable support for school infrastructure, learning materials, teacher development, and tertiary education expansion.
The President also addressed the urgent need for Ghana to overhaul its agricultural systems to meet the challenges posed by rapidly changing climatic conditions. He emphasised that the country can no longer depend predominantly on rain-fed agriculture.
“We need to adapt our agriculture to a new reality. That means we must put more land under irrigation. Poor farmers will not be able to afford the cost that comes with it, and that is why my government has decided to embark on appropriate and affordable irrigation for the farmers,” he stated.
Mahama said enhanced irrigation infrastructure would boost agricultural productivity, create employment in rural communities, stabilise food supplies, and improve Ghana’s resilience to climate change.
The President’s remarks at the Doha Forum highlighted Ghana’s broader development priorities, which centre on domestic resource mobilisation, educational reform, and modernised, climate-resilient agriculture to support sustainable national growth.
