﻿Why is Ghana Africa's fastest growing economy Ghana was in crisis just three decades ago,
impoverished and suffering from famine, and on the verge of economic collapse. Ghana
gained independence in 1957, and the government immediately focused on the country's economy.
Ghana's cocoa crops, which were brought over from the Americas in 1878, seemed to be
securing the country's status as an up-and-coming economy to be reckoned with by the late 1900s.
But, all too soon, the booming economy began to slow down due to a drop in cocoa prices.
Despite the fact that Ghana was a major exporter of gold and had a wealth of natural resources,
the country's heavy reliance on cocoa exports caused the economy to suffer
and took a toll on all aspects of vlife for Ghanaians.
Fast forward to today, and the West African country has made an incredible comeback, and it is
expected to be the world's fastest growing economy in 2019. Ghana has long been known as one of the
world's largest cocoa producers, but its growth is now being fueled by oil. The country faced
significant challenges, and Ghana's economy was far from being Africa's fastest-growing. Ghana's
economy has risen to the top of the GDP growth tables as a result of increased crude production
and rising prices. While Ghana's prosperity is closely linked to the oil markets, it remains
one of the world's largest gold exporters, and cocoa is still a significant product.
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In 2019, Ghana had the fastest growing economy in Africa. This is a significant achievement for any
country with a history of economic ups and downs. But how did Ghana manage to get it right? Their
efforts toward good governance and sustainable development appear to have been successful.
It's not just Ghana's natural resources that are propelling the country's economy forward.
Under a stable democracy, government initiatives to formalize the economy
and introduce a more favourable taxation structure are starting to bear fruit, the IMF says.
Its once-struggling manufacturing sector is also benefiting from policies aimed at
diversifying the economy and preventing over-reliance on commodity markets.
Good governance can result in a cascade of benefits for communities,
such as reduced inequalities, better jobs and economic growth,
higher quality education, and more sustainable cities.
However, it is easier said than done because each country has its own set of circumstances.
Good policy decisions in various sectors of society are required for sustainable
development. For example, the industrial sector – the economy's goods-producing
sector – has an impact on health. And, because governments advise all sectors of society,
good governance and sustainable development are inextricably linked.
The Economic Recovery Program was implemented during the country's early years of independence
(ERP). This program had its focus on urban issues and sidelined the challenges faced by rural
communities. In this way the ERP overlooked the connections between rural and urban communities,
and how one community could benefit from improvements in the other. Since Ghana's
independence, rural communities' wealth has lagged far behind that of city dwellers. Bridging the
equality gap meant providing better access to jobs and higher pay for rural residents.
And by 1997, the Ghanaian government had devised a strategy.
In Ghana, good governance began with government officials increasing their commitment to improving
governance. This entailed paying attention to what the country truly required and making decisions
based on Ghana's past, present, and future. And it was because of this good governance that something
remarkable happened in the 1980s. Ghana's economy was being bolstered by factors other than a
new commodity that the country could sell.This strength came from a more structured and equitable
system of governance. The new government prided themselves on running a stable democracy, and
their government initiatives looked to strengthen society and industry through economic reform.
By the mid-1990s, Ghana was once again experiencing rapid economic growth, thanks
to good governance embodied in policies and plans designed to improve Ghanaians' quality of life.
These gains were boosted in 2007 by the discovery of offshore oil, and Ghana's
economy was on the verge of collapsing. Ghana was dubbed the “world's fastest growing economy”
in 2019, with terms like “skyrocketing” used to describe its expansion. Ghana transformed itself
into the world's fastest growing economy in just three decades. According to The World Bank,
the country has also consistently ranked in the top three African countries for freedom
of expression and press freedom.. These successes all stem from good governance
and a shift towards sustainable development. Good governance had brought with it some great
opportunities to turn paper policies into practical progress in the form of the Village
Infrastructure Project (VIP). Looking to intensify efforts to reduce poverty and
increase the quality of life across the country, the Ghanaian government launched the VIP.
There was a keen call for community participation, even during the planning phases of the project.
The VIP had four main focus areas, all aligned to community concerns.
1) RURAL WATER INFRASTRUCTURE In terms of annual rainfall, Ghana ranks
far ahead of other African countries. However, this abundance of water was not evenly distributed
geographically or seasonally, contributing to the country's unequal distribution.
The importance of managing the country's water resources was recognized through the VIP.
The government invested in and built infrastructure for water catchments,
as well as water conservation efforts. In this way, they hoped to improve water distribution,
making it easier for people living in rural areas to access and use clean water. With work on water
infrastructure in full swing, the country may become bogged down in other rural concerns.
2) RURAL TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE Before the implementation of the VIP only
8,000 of the 22,000 kilometres of road feeding into rural areas was maintained by
the government. Ghana's history demonstrates how its economy was reliant on agricultural products.
And nothing had changed much by 1997. Moving produce and livestock from fields
to farms and farms to markets became a priority for the Ghanaian government.
This was crucial to the growth of Ghana's economy. The roads that rural communities had to contend
with were not designed to accommodate cattle-drawn carts or motor vehicles.
As a result, headloading heavy produce – carrying items while balancing them on one's
head – became commonplace. And, because men were in charge of the farm's groundwork, women and
children would be in charge of transporting produce and dealing with the unkempt roads.
The government was up to the task of improving the quality of life in villages, and got serious about
providing clear roadways, so that vehicles could begin to carry the load for women and children.
3) RURAL POST-HARVEST INFRASTRUCTURE And if the roads are ready, the supply
must be consistent! However, improving roads would imply more than just transporting the usual load
of produce to markets; it would also imply increasing output to new heights. This posed
a problem because Ghana lacked sufficient quality post-harvest facilities – buildings where produce
is stored before being transported to markets – to store an increased amount of produce. Prior to the
VIP, spoilage of harvested crops accounted for a staggering 30% of harvesting costs.
To address this issue, the VIP provided financial and practical assistance in developing the
infrastructure for post-harvest facilities. Now farmers could make use of cost-effective
preserving techniques – such as cleaning, sorting, drying, smoking and grading of products to extend
their shelf-life. The government also assisted in setting up individual, and group-owned and managed
facilities for small-scale producers. This was a major stepping stone in community empowerment,
and set the scene for farmers to take control of their own agricultural futures.
4) INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING The VIP also shed light on interesting
developments in Ghana, such as institutional strengthening through community empowerment.
While institutional strengthening may appear to have been a upper edge task, in Ghana,
it was all about returning power to the people. It began with the delegation of administrative
responsibilities to 110 district assemblies (DAs), transferring power from the national
to the district level. The DAs were given the most power at the local level and were
in charge of basic education, public health, environmental protection, and sanitation.
The constitution allotted 10% of the gross domestic product(GDP) of the country to
this purpose. This was known as the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF). And, each DA was
appointed an agricultural coordinator from the community to push post-harvest infrastructure,
and other agricultural activities. This allowed rural communities to settle into
managing projects on the ground that would improve their own livelihoods. With the VIP
and other government initiatives well underway, the world could see how good governance got Ghana
steering towards sustainable development. Nonetheless, Ghana continues to strive for
more sustainable development because the gains made in Ghana can bring hope to many
people in difficult situations, but maintaining progress while protecting natural resources can
be a difficult balancing act. The World Resources Institute (WRI) reported in
April 2019 that Ghana was one of the top ten countries losing swathes of its rainforest.
Interestingly, the rainforests are being cleared to make way for cocoa crops, which have once
again become a major export commodity in Ghana. Even though Ghana's economy has grown in recent
years, it was expected to fall again in 2020, which it did. This thorn in Ghana's side appears
to stem from a struggle with sustainability. Yes, Ghana has incorporated the concept of
sustainability into its economic reform programs, but promises on paper do not always translate to
reality, except in cases of good governance. Making farming environmentally sustainable – by
conserving soil, forest, and biodiversity resources – was identified as a key challenge
in the Overseas Development Institute's (ODI) review of Ghana's agricultural growth.
Working in its favor, Ghana took steps toward the UN SDGs before the goals were
even compiled in 2015, demonstrating Ghana's commitment to sustainability.
And it has stayed true to that history, launching a slew of programs in every sector to address its
sustainability issues, such as the Low Emission Capacity Building (LECB) project including several
projects aimed at educating communities on sustainable forestry and water use.
This demonstrates that Ghana has the good governance and sustainable development strides
required to get its economy back on track, as long as it adheres to sustainable progress.
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