An independent policy think tank has rated President John Dramani Mahama’s first year in office 4.9 out of 10, describing the government’s overall performance as “below average” despite strong gains in macroeconomic indicators.

The assessment, published by the Institute of Economic Research and Public Policy (IERPP), evaluated the government’s performance against selected promises contained in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) 2024 election manifesto, Resetting Ghana.

According to the report, the Mahama administration received a composite score of 4.9 out of 10 based on a weighted assessment of 29 key performance indicators drawn from the party’s 201 manifesto commitments.

The report said the overall rating reflected mixed performance across sectors.

“The NDC government’s first year yields a composite score of 4.9/10, a ‘Below Average’ rating,” the report said.

IERPP President Prof. Isaac Boadi said the score was weighed down by relatively weaker performance in infrastructure, manufacturing, energy, governance and social service delivery.

The report nevertheless credited the government with strong macroeconomic achievements during its first year in office.

It cited a decline in headline inflation from 23.8% to 5.4%, an appreciation of the cedi against the US dollar and record gross international reserves of US$13.8 billion.

The assessment described the government’s performance in macroeconomic stabilisation and tax reform as “exceptional.”

Despite improvements in economic indicators, the report said sectors with the greatest direct impact on citizens recorded weaker results.

According to the assessment, infrastructure, manufacturing, energy, governance and social delivery achieved an average score of 5.1 out of 10, which it classified as “fair.”

IERPP said this ultimately reduced the government’s overall rating.

The institute said its methodology relied on publicly available official data rather than political opinion.

It said each of the 29 selected manifesto commitments was independently scored by two reviewers and weighted according to its significance before a composite score was calculated.

The report cited data from the Bank of Ghana, the Ghana Statistical Service, the 2025 Budget Statement and the International Monetary Fund’s Extended Credit Facility programme.

IERPP said only 29 of the NDC’s 201 manifesto promises were assessed because they could be measured within the government’s first year, while the remaining commitments require a longer implementation period.

The institute said the second year of the administration would provide a clearer indication of whether economic stabilisation could translate into broader structural transformation and improvements in public service delivery.