Country Profile

In 1957 Ghana became the first African country to achieve independence from a European colonial power, and today it is one of the continent’s most vibrant democracies. The 2016 elections saw Nana Akufo-Addo, now president, speak to voter dissatisfaction with the economy, which at the time was suffering from the protracted downturn in global prices of its chief commodity exports. The election was thus fought on an issue affecting all Ghanaians, rather than on sectarian grounds, while the exemplary behaviour of both presidential candidates and their supporters in the transfer of power also indicated the growing strength of democratic governance in the country. With a GDP of GHS256.6bn ($55.4bn) at the end of 2018, Ghana is also a contender to become the year’s fastest-growing economy worldwide. As it tries to move away from traditional resource dependency, the country now faces the challenge of ensuring the widest benefit from that expansion, particularly given its growing and increasingly urbanised population. This chapter contains viewpoints with Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana; Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice-president of Ghana; Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany; and an interview with Rona Fairhead, Minister for Trade and Export Promotion, UK Department for International Trade.