Ghana

Ghana’s economy is expected to see robust growth this year, at around 8.5%, but so too will public spending. The 20% increase in government expenditures should help sustain social services and infrastructure investment, and underwrite activity in the energy, agriculture and construction sectors. However, there are concerns the country may not be pursuing fiscal consolidation aggressively enough, and 2013 will see a wide deficit and rising debt.

Halfway through the current cocoa season, concerns are rising that Ghana’s growers will see lower-than-expected revenues for 2013, due to poor weather conditions and a tight global market. However, the government still plans to move ahead with a long-term programme to further boost production, with hopes that a series of late rains will also improve output for the current season.

Although moderately sized, Ghana’s tourism industry has been a major focus of attention from both public and private sector investors in recent years. Developments in infrastructure, promotion and diversification of products should help the country boost both visitor arrivals and revenues.

With the elections now largely over, barring the final resolution of a handful of court cases contesting the results, Ghana’s government has a backlog of decisions to make, and one of the sectors that will be affected by this is mining.

Ghana’s leap into the ranks of oil-producing countries happened in record time, taking just 42 months from discovery to production. That speed brought with it complications that have necessitated a revision of forecast output. However, the bulk of those hiccups appear to have passed and the outlook for 2013 is looking encouraging, with the flagship Jubilee field set to hit maximum targeted production and new commercial discoveries about to come online.

With the presidential elections largely concluded, save a few outstanding legal challenges, 2012 proved to be a year in which Ghana gave a comparatively strong economic performance, bolstered by stable commodity prices, continued oil production and a sizable capital campaign in both the gas and electricity sectors. However, structural weaknesses will need to be addressed for the country to maintain its upward trajectory.