Africa: a continent of contrasts
Ghana: an economic success story
This lesson focuses on Ghana and how it has become a succesful African nation.
Key questions:
- Where in the world is Ghana?
- How has Ghana become a successful African nation?
Key concepts:
Place
Space
Physical and human processes
Diversity
Where in the world is Ghana?
The Republic of Ghana is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south.
How has Ghana become a successful African nation?
Well endowed with natural resources, Ghana has twice the per capita output of the poorer countries in West Africa. Even so, Ghana remains somewhat dependent on international financial and technical assistance as well as the activities of the large number of Ghanaians living and working abroad. Gold, timber, cocoa, diamond, bauxite, and manganese exports are major sources of foreign exchange. An oilfield which is reported to contain up to 3 billion barrels of light oil was discovered in 2007.This discovery may not only help offset the current high cost of oil imports but may in time generate large revenues for the country.
The domestic economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 50% of GDP and employs 85% of the work force, mainly small landholders.
Ghana has made good economic progress under a three-year structural adjustment program in cooperation with the IMF. Ghana remains one of the more economically sound countries in all of Africa.
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