Economy

The Ghanaian economy is strongly correlated to global commodities such as cocoa, gold and oil, which are the three main sources of income and foreign currency. Price swings for these three resources, increased spending on domestic public sector wages, an electricity shortage and other external factors have combined to slow the pace of development in recent years, leading to a depreciating currency and a budget shortfall. According to provisional statistics, GDP for 2014 was estimated at $33.4bn, indicating year-on-year growth of 4%, while non-oil GDP totalled $31.12bn. New offshore oil and gas fields are expected to accelerate economic growth starting in 2016, with energy set to contribute 2% to GDP in 2016 and 4.1% by 2017.

This chapter includes interviews with Seth Terkper, Minister of Finance, and Mawuena Trebarh, CEO, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC).