Economy and Development In Ghana

(Begin with economic context and see all other articles in this set below)

Despite a functioning democracy and a relatively robust economy in Sub-Saharan African terms, Ghana still faces considerable development challenges. In the years for which data are available, the World Bank estimates that: [1]

• Fifty-four percent of the population lives below the $2-a-day poverty line (2006 estimate);
• Life expectancy is 60 years, compared to a world average of 69 years and a high-income country average of 79 years (2007 estimate);
• Twenty percent of Ghanaians do not have access to improved water sources. Sanitation is even less developed—for example, only 15 percent of the urban population has access to improved sanitation facilities (2006 estimates); [2]
• Fewer than half of all roads are paved (2005 estimate);
• Only 65 percent of adults (over 15) are literate (2007 estimate).

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS is substantially lower than in other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa (the World Health Organization estimated the prevalence among adults at around 2 percent in 2007, compared to a 5 percent average across Sub-Saharan Africa), but other health crises persist. [3]  For example, a third of deaths among children younger than five are caused by malaria. [4]

Ghana receives more than one billion dollars in official development assistance each year. In 2007 (the last year for which data are available), aid constituted more than a quarter of government expenditures. [5]  Even so, there is intense competition for development resources. With so many issues to address, Ghana’s poverty reduction strategy is primarily focused on achieving middle income status through growth-driven approaches to human resource development, increasing the competitiveness of the private sector (especially through the modernization of agriculture and infrastructure) and promoting good governance. [6]  The current National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration’s 2008 campaign platform contained three key pillars:

• Economy—increasing public savings, improving the efficiency of public service delivery, accelerating “public investments in energy, transport infrastructure, telecommunications and water resources,” modernizing agriculture and improving the investment climate.
• Education—improving the quality of education through teacher training and distance learning, and encouraging participation by the private sector in education.
• Health—focusing on preventive care against targeted diseases and improving “curative” medical care to international standards. [7]

As a prelude to discussion of communication-related issues, the AudienceScapes team first asked survey respondents about their own development priorities, to provide some guidance to development organizations about the bottom-up view on Ghana’s most pressing needs.

Chart 1 shows the percentage of respondents describing a given issue as either “serious” or “very serious” (the other response options were “moderate,” “minor” and “not a problem”). Perhaps not surprisingly, bread-and-butter economic concerns topped the list.

Chart 1
                       

There is also a fairly clear “concern gap” between respondents’ views on economic, corruption and public safety issues on the one hand, and more narrowly-defined development issues on the other.

From a demographic perspective, there were also notable differences between the responses of urban and rural residents on specific development issues, with more rural dwellers judging each issue to be somewhat or very serious. For example, rural dwellers were twice as likely to say the availability of telecommunications is a serious or very serious problem, ostensibly reflecting the lack of infrastructure in rural areas (Chart 2).

Chart 2
             

 Grouped by respondents’ level of education—an effective proxy in the data for their general socio-economic status—the results show those with no formal education are far more likely than others to identify access to food, electricity and telecommunications services as serious issues. They are also less likely to be as concerned about corruption, drug abuse or political instability (Table 1). This trend underlines the subjectivity of people’s development priorities, which tend to focus on issues that are closest to home.

Table 1
                   

That so few respondents saw censorship of the media as problematic supports third-party assessments rating Ghana’s media environment as open and competitive. For example, Freedom House’s Freedom of the Press Index ranked Ghana as one of only seven Sub-Saharan African countries in 2009 with “free” media environments. [8] Ghana has a permissive media regulatory environment and a number of professional and civil society groups working to strengthen independent media. [9]

More than 135 newspapers and around 110 radio stations inform Ghanaians about current events; those households with televisions can access at least the three main Ghanaian stations (GTV, TV3 and Metro TV) and sometimes part or all of the more than 20 other stations. [10]

Local radio stations regularly provide programming in languages other than English; even national TV news broadcasts include some local language segments. This is vital, given that there are more than 70 spoken languages (in addition to English) in Ghana. [11] 

The most widely used and understood are the Akan language family (such as Twi or Fante), Dagaare, Dangbe, Dagbane, Ewe, Ga, Gonja, Kasem and Nzema. [12]

(click on each link to get a complete picture of the development context in Ghana)

[1] World Development Indicators Database. The World Bank Group, April 2009.

[2] Access to an improved water source refers to the percentage of the population with reasonable access to an adequate amount of water from an improved source, such as a household connection, public standpipe, borehole, protected well or spring, and rainwater collection. Unimproved sources include vendors, tanker trucks, and unprotected wells and springs. Reasonable access is defined as the availability of at least 20 liters a person a day from a source within one kilometer of the dwelling. Source: World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund, Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation (2008). Access to improved sanitation facilities refers to the percentage of the population with at least adequate access to excreta disposal facilities that can effectively prevent human, animal, and insect contact with excreta. Improved facilities range from simple but protected pit latrines to flush toilets with a sewerage connection. To be effective, facilities must be correctly constructed and properly maintained. Source: World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund, Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation (2008).” (from World Development Indicators, 2009)

[3] “Annex: HIV and AIDS estimates and data, 2007 and 2001” 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic. World Health Organization, 2008. P. 215. http://data.unaids.org/pub/GlobalReport/2008/jc1510_2008_global_report_pp211_234_en.pdf

[4]  Core Health Indicators: Ghana. World Health Organization, 2009. http://www.who.int/whosis/en. 

[5] World Development Indicators Database. The World Bank Group, April 2009.

[6]  Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II) 2006-2009. Republic of Ghana, National Development Planning Commission, November 2005. One definition of “middle income” status is provided by the World Bank: “Income group: Economies are divided according to 2008 GNI per capita, calculated using the World Bank Atlas method. The groups are: low income, $975 or less; lower middle income, $976 - $3,855; upper middle income, $3,856 - $11,905; and high income, $11,906 or more.” Country Classification, The World Bank Group. http://go.worldbank.org/K2CKM78CC0

[7] “The Platform,” National Democratic Congress Official Campaign Site. http://www.attamills2008.com

[8] Freedom of the Press Index, 2009. Freedom House, http://www.freedomhouse.org

[9] Associations include the Ghana Journalists’ Association, Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association, Ghana Community Radio Network, Institute of Public Relations, Advertisers Association of Ghana, Film Makers Guild, Association of Women in the Media, Women in Broadcasting, Internet Society of Ghana, West Africa Journalists Association, Sports Writers Association of Ghana, Sports Broadcasters Association, Environmental Club of Journalists, Economic and Financial News Reporters Association, Association of Past Broadcasters, Communication Workers Union, and Ghana Association of Writers. MSI Africa 2008: Ghana. International Research & Exchanges Board, http://www.irex.org/programs/MSI_Africa/2008/ghana.asp

[10] Freedom of the Press Index, 2009. Freedom House, http://www.freedomhouse.org

[11] Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/

[12] “Languages,” Ghanaweb. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/tribes/languages.php