John Mahama's win has sparked enthusiasm in Africa's fledgling democracies. However, experts warn that opposition parties must focus on the electorate's needs to win elections, and electoral commissio
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00:00She's the picture of a successful Ghanaian businesswoman, but Juliet Labi can't afford
00:07any luxuries.
00:09Despite the blistering Accra heat, she keeps her fan off.
00:14Utility bills are soaring, and as a primary provider for her family, she must carefully
00:19balance comfort and survival.
00:21A typical firstborn in a Ghanaian home, you assume certain responsibilities, and we are
00:29usually described as the second parents.
00:33Aside employees, you would have siblings if you have any to take care of.
00:38So I have my mother, I have my other siblings that I need to support.
00:44Today, Juliet works from home to reduce fuel expenses.
00:48Like many in Ghana's middle class, her disposable income has shrunk.
00:55I've made a lot of sacrifices whereby I need to buy myself a pair of shoes, I need to buy
01:01myself maybe a car to boost my business, to do something, but at the moment you can't
01:07do that.
01:08So I may have to use my personal car to run my business, run my personal life.
01:16Across Ghana, families are struggling.
01:19High inflation, currency depreciation, and mounting national debt have tightened the
01:24grip on middle-income households, pushing more people into poverty.
01:29As the country heads into its next elections, top presidential candidates John Mahama and
01:34Mahamudu Bawumia each claim they have the solutions to fix the economy, the top concern
01:40among voters here.
01:43Living conditions have been harsh these days.
01:46Even if you work hard, what you earn as income can't sustain you long.
01:50It is a struggle.
01:51I'm just helpless.
01:53Young people aren't getting jobs these days, so it's very tough.
01:58They're now even resorting to stealing to survive under the current economic conditions.
02:05And many businesses are barely surviving, like Juliet's cereal factory.
02:10She tells me supply costs keep rising.
02:12Her workers also face higher bills at home, but Juliet can't afford to raise their pay.
02:18Instead, she sometimes offers free food to take home.
02:23Juliet's mother, Grace, works the corn mill.
02:26She's here to help her daughter out, but she doesn't really have a choice.
02:30Her farm in rural Ghana no longer produces an income she can live on.
02:37Without my daughter, things would be tough.
02:41She is the one managing the business and keeping it afloat.
02:44I earn my income from this business, so without my daughter, who's always pushing hard to
02:50keep us in business, it would be difficult for me and other workers.
02:58Working harder and cutting back is what many Ghanaians are forced to do right now.
03:02But there's a limit to what's humanly possible.
03:07Prince Sechere is a father of two.
03:10He juggles two jobs, waiting tables full-time while working as a mixologist on the side.
03:16With no days off, the exhaustion is wearing him down, but his worries go beyond his personal well-being.
03:23Prince fears for Ghana's future.
03:27When people come pre-school and they don't have jobs to do, we have nurses who are in the house,
03:32we have teachers who are in the house, and there are no jobs for them.
03:36So they'll go elsewhere, make sure they make a living for themselves.
03:40If all your good ones are leaving you, you become a desert.
03:44Have you had this idea of leaving the country, perhaps?
03:47Plenty of times. As I'm talking to you, if I had any opportunity to travel to any Arab country, I would move quick.
03:54So the things that Prince has reflected on resonate with what I've heard since I've been here in Accra,
04:00that there are simply no opportunities.
04:02And even for those who are highly educated, they lament that their skills are simply mismatched for what the job market needs.
04:08And so the question about the economy is, is it just the external pressures that are creating this problem,
04:13or is it a problem of poor management?
04:16Economic analyst Abdul Ahmed certainly thinks so.
04:21Of course, mismanagement is part of it. Corruption is part of it.
04:26Lack of foresight of the leadership is another.
04:30Lack of long-term planning is also another.
04:35Excessive political partisanship is a serious concern for us.
04:41And of course, the general fragility of the national economy, which has been fragile since independence.
04:52Are you hopeful that the leaders who take over the next government are going to do anything for the economy?
05:01I doubt, except that you can have some who can perform relatively better than the others.
05:08But with all honesty, I can tell you that we don't have transformational leadership now.
05:14Juliet and her mother, like many in Ghana's middle class struggling to hold on, are hoping for change.
05:21To them, the choice of who to elect is more than political. It's about personal survival.