Country Profile

By dint of its history, Ghana has long had strong social, political and economic ties to both the US and UK, and to a lesser extent other Western European countries. Ghana is also an active member within the UN and has routinely served on UN peacekeeping missions. Closer to home Ghana is beginning to strengthen ties with its larger neighbour, Nigeria. The US and UK have long been among Ghana’s chief trading partners, accounting for sizeable amounts of both exports and imports in prior decades. The two nations also consistently rank among the top investors in the country.

This chapter contains a viewpoint from President John Dramani Mahama; and interviews with Kadré Désiré Ouédraogo, President, Commission of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS); Penny Pritzker, US Secretary of Commerce; and Georg Wilfried Schmidt, Regional Director for Sub-Saharan Africa and the Sahel, German Federal Foreign Office.