Ghana

Elevation:
Population – distribution:
People and Society
Ghana has a young age structure, with approximately 57% of the population under the age of 25. Its total fertility rate fell significantly during the 1980s and 1990s but has stalled at around four children per woman for the last few years. Fertility remains higher in the northern region than the Greater Accra region. On average, desired fertility has remained stable for several years; urban dwellers want fewer children than rural residents. Increased life expectancy, due to better health care, nutrition, and hygiene, and reduced fertility have increased Ghana’s share of elderly persons; Ghana’s proportion of persons aged 60+ is among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Poverty has declined in Ghana, but it remains pervasive in the northern region, which is susceptible to droughts and floods and has less access to transportation infrastructure, markets, fertile farming land, and industrial centers. The northern region also has lower school enrollment, higher illiteracy, and fewer opportunities for women.
Ethnically, the people of Ghana may be said to belong to one broad group within the African family, but there is a large variety of subgroups. On the basis of language, it is possible to distinguish at least 75 of these. Many of these are very small, and only 10 of them are numerically significant. The largest of these groups are the Akan (which includes the Anyi, Asante [Ashanti], Baule, Fante, and Guang), Mole-Dagbani, Ewe, Ga-Adangme, and Gurma. Despite the variety, there were no serious ethnic dissensions when Ghana became independent. Ethnic consciousness persists in many areas, however, and at times tensions have erupted—especially in northern Ghana—into violent clashes with many fatalities. At all levels in government and in public life, an effort has been made to play down ethnic differences, a policy that has been helped by the adoption of English as the official language.
Population:
27,499,924
Nationality:
Ghanaian(s)
Ethnic groups:
Akan 47.5%, Mole-Dagbon 16.6%, Ewe 13.9%, Ga-Dangme 7.4%, Gurma 5.7%, Guan 3.7%, Grusi 2.5%, Mande 1.1%, other 1.4% (2010 est.)
Languages:
Zulu 22.7%, Xhosa 16%, Afrikaans 13.5%, English 9.6%, Sepedi 9.1%, Setswana 8%, Sesotho 7.6%, Xitsonga 4.5%, Swati 2.5%, Tshivenda 2.4%, Ndebele 2.1%, sign language 0.5%, other 1.6% (2011 est.)
Religions:
Christian 71.2% (Pentecostal/Charismatic 28.3%, Protestant 18.4%, Catholic 13.1%, other 11.4%), Muslim 17.6%, traditional 5.2%, other 0.8%, none 5.2% (2010 est.)
Education
After Ghana’s Independence in 1957, Ghana’s first prime minister Dr. Kwame Nkrumah led Ghana into rapid industrialization which led to lesser emphasis on agriculture and other subsistence economic activities in Ghana. The rapid industrialization in Ghana were however centered in the Southern part of Ghana ( Accra, Takoradi, Tema) therefore making most of the manufacturing and service activities centered around the southern part of Ghana. The rapid industrialization in Ghana saw high waves of migrations of people from rural areas that used to be actively engaged in agriculture to cities in the Southern part of Ghana in search for service and manufacturing industrial employments.
Ghana’s rapid shift from an informal economy to formal economy made education an important political objective in Ghana. The magnitude of the task, as well as economic difficulties and political instabilities, have slowed down attempted reforms. The Education Act of 1987, followed by the Constitution of 1992, gave a new impulse to educational policies in the country. In 2011, the primary school net enrollment rate was 84%, described by UNICEF as “far ahead” of the Sub-Saharan average. In its 2013-14 report, the World Economic Forum ranked Ghana 46th out of 148 countries for education system quality. In 2010, Ghana’s literacy rate was 71.5%, with a notable gap between men (78.3%) and women (65.3%).
Ghanaian education system is divided in three parts: “Basic Education”, secondary cycle and tertiary education. “Basic Education” lasts 11 years . It is divided into Kindergarten (2 years), Primary School (2 module of 3 years) and Junior High (3 years). Junior High School (JHS) ends with the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). Once the BECE achieved, the pupil can pursue into secondary cycle. Hence, the pupil has the choice between general education (assumed by Senior High School) and vocational education (assumed by technical Senior High School, Technical and Vocational Institutes, completed by a massive private and informal offer). Senior High School lasts three years and ends on the West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). The WASSCE is needed to join a university bachelor’s degree program.
University education is provided at institutions such as the University of Ghana, with campuses at Legon and Accra (established 1948), the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology at Kumasi (1951), the University of Cape Coast (1962), and the University for Development Studies at Tamale (1992). In addition, there are many technical and training colleges in the country, and Accra is home to the National Film and Television Institute (1978).
With over 95% of its children in school, Ghana currently has one of the highest school enrollment rates in all of Africa. The ratio of females to males in the total education system was 0.98, in 2014.
Economy
Ghana has a market-based economy with relatively few policy barriers to trade and investment in comparison with other countries in the region, and Ghana is well-endowed with natural resources. Ghana’s economy was strengthened by a quarter century of relatively sound management, a competitive business environment, and sustained reductions in poverty levels, but in recent years has suffered the consequences of loose fiscal policy, high budget and current account deficits, and a depreciating currency.
Before independence the government’s role was confined mainly to the provision of such basic utilities as water, electricity, railways, roads, and postal services. Agriculture, commerce, banking, and industry were almost entirely in private hands, with foreign interests controlling the greater share in all of them except agriculture.
Shortly after independence, the government set out to extend its control over the economy by establishing a large number of state-owned enterprises in agriculture and industry. In order to make up for the local shortage of capital and entrepreneurial skills, measures were adopted to attract foreign investors to operate independently or in partnership with the government. These policies did not achieve the desired results because of poor planning and corrupt administration. By 1966, when the administration of Pres. Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown, the heavy overseas borrowing upon which the government had relied to support its economic programs had dissipated almost all of the country’s overseas reserves and had produced external and internal debts totaling some $1 billion.
Since it is an emerging designated digital economy with mixed economy hybridization and an emerging market with 5.9% GDP growth in 2017. It has an economic plan target known as the “Ghana Vision 2020”. This plan envisions Ghana as the first African country to become a developed country between 2020 and 2029 and a newly industrialized country between 2030 and 2039. This excludes fellow Group of 24 member and Sub-Saharan African country South Africa, which is a newly industrialized country. Ghana’s economy also has ties to the Chinese yuan renminbi along with Ghana’s vast gold reserves. In 2013, the Bank of Ghana began circulating the renminbi throughout Ghanaian state-owned banks and to the Ghana public as hard currency along with the national Ghana cedi for second national trade currency.
As of 2017, key economic concerns facing the government include the lack of reliable electricity and the high debt burden. The AKUFO-ADDO administration has made some progress by committing to fiscal consolidation, but much work is still to be done in 2018. Ghana signed a $920 million extended credit facility with the IMF in April 2015 to help it address its growing economic crisis. The IMF fiscal targets require Ghana to reduce the deficit by cutting subsidies, decreasing the bloated public sector wage bill, strengthening revenue administration, and boosting tax revenues. Priorities for the new administration include rescheduling some of Ghana’s $31 billion debt, stimulating economic growth, reducing inflation, and stabilizing the currency. Prospects for new oil and gas production and follow through on tighter fiscal management are likely to help Ghana’s economy in 2018
$123 billion (2016 est.)
$118.8 billion (2015 est.)
GDP – real growth rate:
3.5% (2016 est.)
3.8% (2015 est.)
$4,500 (2016 est.)
$4,400 (2015 est.
7.8% of GDP (2016 est.)
9% of GDP (2015 est.)
industry: 24.5%
services: 57.2% (2017 est.)
Industries:
Budget:
expenditures: $12.38 billion (2017 est.)
Agriculture
Agriculture is an important contributor to Ghana’s export earnings, and a major source of inputs for the manufacturing sector. Agriculture in Ghana consists of a variety of agricultural products and is an established economic sector, and provides employment on a formal and informal basis. Ghana produces a variety of crops in various climatic zones which range from dry savanna to wet forest and which run in east west bands across Ghana. Agricultural crops, including yams, grains, cocoa, oil palms, kola nuts, and timber, form the base of agriculture in Ghana’s economy In the year of As of 2013, agriculture employed 53.6% of the total labor force in Ghana.
The first president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah attempted to use agricultural wealth as a springboard for the country’s overall economic development, Ghanaian agricultural output has consistently fallen since the 1960s. Beginning with the drop in commodity prices in the late 1960s, farmers were faced with fewer incentives to produce as well as with a general deterioration of necessary infrastructure and services.
When the Rawlings government initiated the first phase of the Economic Recovery Program (ERP) in 1984, agriculture was identified as the economic sector that could rescue Ghana from a financial ruin. Accordingly, since that time, the government has invested significant funds in the rehabilitation of agriculture. The government had directed capital toward repairing and improving the transportation and distribution infrastructure serving export crops. In addition, specific projects aimed at increasing cocoa yields and at developing the timber industry had been initiated. Except for specific development programs, however, the government had tried to allow the free market to promote higher producer prices and to increase efficiency.
After a difficult 2016, Ghana’s macroeconomic performance improved in 2017, with the country’s economy expanding for the fifth successive quarter in September 2017, at a rate almost double the 3.7% in 2016, according to the update. The external position has improved as the trade balance has shifted to a surplus. The economic update notes that Ghana has also made good progress in macro-stabilization in 2017, and recommends that it sustain the fiscal consolidation efforts. Inflation is likely to fall within or be close to the Bank of Ghana’s medium-term target range of 6-10% in 2018.
Commercial crops:- For over 81 years Agriculture in Ghana has been regulated by one of its highest yielding exports-Cocoa. Cocoa is Ghana’s principal agricultural export. Cocoa production occurs in the forested areas of Ghana: Ashanti Region, Brong-Ahafo Region, Central Region, Eastern Region, Western Region, and Volta Region. The other commercial crops are palm oil, cotton, rubber, sugar cane, tobacco, and kenaf. The main food crops are corn, yams, cassava and other root crops.
Manufacturing
Ghana’s manufacturing industry got a boost in 1957 when the government launched an industrialization drive. The drive resulted in the creation of a range of industrial enterprises including aluminum processing, oil refining, timber processing, cocoa processing, breweries, cement manufacturing and textile manufacturing. As a result of this industrialization, the manufacturing industry’s share of GDP grew from 10% in 1960 to 14% in 1970.
After 1970, harsh economic conditions, poor management, and shortage of resources made it difficult for businesses to stay afloat in the industry, ultimately leading to a decline through the 70’s and 80’s. Liberalization of trade further added to the difficulties by flooding markets with cheap imports (mostly from China) with which local companies could not compete. As many as 120 manufacturing facilities have closed their doors since liberalization of trade, eliminating many jobs.
In 1986, the government stepped in again and established the Ghana Investment Center which supported the creation of new enterprises in the manufacturing and other industries. In 1989, the government allocated over $100 million in investment capital to approved projects, two thirds of which were joint ventures in the manufacturing sector. By 1999 manufacturing was contributing about 30% of GDP and 15% of employment in the country.
The Ghana economy is an emerging digital-based mixed economy hybrid similarly to that of Taiwan with an increasing primary manufacturing and exportation of digital technology goods along with assembling and exporting automobiles and ships, diverse resource rich exportation of industrial minerals, agricultural products primarily cocoa, petroleum and natural gas, and industries such as information and communications technology primarily via Ghana’s state digital technology corporation Rlg Communications which manufactures tablet computers with smartphones and various consumer electronics.
Petroleum and natural gas production:- Ghana produces and exports an abundance of hydrocarbons such as sweet crude oil and natural gas. The 100% state-owned filling station company of Ghana, Ghana Oil Company (GOIL) is the number 1 petroleum and gas filling station of Ghana.
Industrial minerals mining:- Known for its industrial minerals, Ghana is the world’s 7th largest producer of gold; producing over 102 metric tons of gold and the 10th largest producer of gold in the world in 2012; producing 89 metric tons of gold. Ghana is the 2nd largest producer of gold on the Africa continent behind South Africa. Ghana has the 9th largest reserves of diamonds in the world. Industrial minerals and exports from South Ghana are gold, silver, timber, diamonds, bauxite, and manganese; South Ghana also has a great deposit of barites; basalts; clays; dolomites; feldspars; granites; gravels; gypsums; iron ores; kaolin’s; laterites; lime stones; magnetite’s; marbles; micas; phosphates; phosphorus; rocks; salts; sands; sandstones; silver; slates; talcs; and uranium that are yet to be fully exploited.
Mining
Ghana has a long and prosperous mining history. More than 100 years ago, it was one of the first countries in West Africa to explore gold mining. Today, Ghana produces over 2 million ounces of gold per year. Minerals make up 35% of the country’s export income. Gold is the major money-maker, with other minerals including manganese, bauxite and diamonds. Quarrying in Ghana consists mostly of smaller-scale operations that produce sand, gravel, cement, limestone, and granite. Large and small-scale mining operations provide an estimated 524,000 jobs for Ghanaians.
Although Ghana has a wide range of minerals, only a few—gold, diamonds, manganese, and bauxite—are exploited. These minerals are found mostly in the southern part of the country. Gold mining, with an unbroken history dating from the 15th century, is the oldest of these extraction industries; the others are of 20th-century origin—the working of manganese dating from 1916, diamonds from 1919, and bauxite from 1942. There are reserves of limestone and iron ore, although they are not exploited.
In 1970 oil was discovered offshore between Saltpond and Cape Coast. Although this discovery was initially classified as noncommercial, the steep world oil price increases of 1973–74 caused the government to reclassify it as commercial in 1974 and to undertake development. In 1974 and 1980 substantial amounts of natural gas were discovered offshore to the south and west of Cape Three Points. Oil production in the Saltpond area began in 1978, but it has proved disappointing; all crude oil is exported in order to reduce the country’s foreign-trade deficit. Further explorations of a more comprehensive nature have continued into the 21st century, resulting in the 2002 discovery of oil reserves off the coast near the border of Côte d’Ivoire, which have potential for exploitation. Salt, in which the country is self-sufficient with a surplus for export, is obtained from the sea and lagoons. There are also extensive supplies of building stone, gravel, and sand.
Many of Ghana’s rivers have the requisite regimes and rates of flow to permit exploitation for hydroelectric power, which is the country’s primary source of electricity and is supplied principally by the Akosombo Dam on the Volta River and by a second dam a few miles downstream at Kpong. Drought conditions, however, can negatively impact hydroelectricity production and cause power interruptions. Thermal plants at Tema and Takoradi also provide some power to the country.
Tourism
Tourist arrivals to Ghana include South Americans (Latinos), Asians, Europeans. Ghana’s all year round tropical warm climate along with its many wildlifes; exotic waterfalls such as Kintampo Waterfalls and the largest waterfall in west Africa, the Tagbo Falls; Ghana’s coastal palm-lined sandy beaches; caves; mountains, rivers; meteorite impact crater and reservoirs and lakes such as Lake Bosumtwi or Bosumtwi meteorite crater and the largest lake in the world by surface area, Lake Volta; dozens of castles and forts; UNESCO World Heritage Sites; nature reserves and national parks are major tourist destinations in Ghana.
The World Economic Forum statistics in 2010 showed that Ghana was 108th out of 139 countries as the world’s favourite tourism destinations. The country had moved two places up from the 2009 rankings. In 2011, Forbes Magazine, published that Ghana was ranked the eleventh-most friendly country in the world. The assertion was based on a survey in 2010 of a cross-section of travelers. Of all the African countries that were included in the survey Ghana ranked highest. Ghana ranks as the seventieth−most stable country in the world and as the 58th–most peaceful country in the world.
In 2011, Ghana raked in $2.19 billion ($2,019,000,000) from the tourism sector on the back of an estimated 1,087,000 million international tourist arrivals. In 2012, Ghana’s tourism sector raked-in $1.7 billion ($1,700,000,000) from 993,600 international tourists, providing employment for 359,000 people. Ghana will annually rake in US$8.3 billion ($8,300,000,000) from the tourism sector per year by the year 2027 on the back of an estimated 4.3 million international tourist arrivals. To enter Ghana, it is necessary to have a visa authorized by the Government of Ghana, except for certain business incubators and business magnates who are on business trip.
Banking and Finance
Ghana has a well-developed banking system that was used extensively by previous governments to finance attempts to develop the local economy. By the late 1980s, the banks had suffered substantial losses from a number of bad loans in their portfolios. In addition, cedi depreciation had raised the banks’ external liabilities. In order to strengthen the banking sector, the government in 1988 initiated comprehensive reforms. In particular, the amended banking law of August 1989 required banks to maintain a minimum capital base equivalent to 6 percent of net assets adjusted for risk and to establish uniform accounting and auditing standards. The law also introduced limits on risk exposure to single borrowers and sectors. These measures strengthened central bank supervision, improved the regulatory framework, and gradually improved resource mobilization and credit allocation.
The banking system included the central bank (the Bank of Ghana), three large commercial banks (Ghana Commercial Bank, Barclays Bank of Ghana, and Standard Chartered Bank of Ghana), and seven secondary banks. Three merchant banks specialized in corporate finance, advisory services, and money and capital market activities: Merchant Bank, Ecobank Ghana, and Continental Acceptances; the latter two were both established in 1990.