Ghana

The push for financial inclusion is continuing apace in Ghana with plans for the implementation of mobile money interoperability. Financial inclusion has been growing healthily in the country, thanks largely to the success of its mobile money system. In 2011 just 29% of the population was banked. By 2014 the figure had reached 41%, according...

While Ghana’s IT sector is growing rapidly, and the government is emphasising its importance to the future health of the economy, it currently suffers from a shortage of qualified labour. As such, the government and the private sector are turning their attention to human resources development.

Although oil and gas have been the focus of domestic economic headlines over the last decade, agriculture remains a key pillar of the economy. It employs almost half of the national labour force, and a key agricultural product – cocoa – is one of the country’s top-three export commodities (see analysis). Upon assuming office in January 2017...

Despite the fact that close to 70% of Ghana’s land area is used for farming, the country remains a net importer of agricultural products, including basic commodities, such as rice and wheat. In 2015 the US Foreign Agriculture Service (FAS) estimated that only around half of all cereal and meat consumed is produced locally. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the minister of food and...

After grappling with a range of macroeconomic headwinds in the past several years, Ghana is beginning to recover, experiencing an increase in commodity revenues, currency stabilisation and an improving fiscal situation. However, lingering effects continue to complicate the outlook for industrial producers.

As the world’s second-largest producer of cocoa after neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana watches its production levels and its position in the global market closely. The country’s smallholder farmers produce an estimated 20% of the world’s cocoa, and cocoa accounts for 8-12% of Ghana’s GDP and 40% of its foreign exchange earnings, according to...