Economy

For several years Ghana was one of the leading lights of the “Africa rising” narrative, with double-digit growth rates that ranked at one point among the highest in the world. The discovery of oil, bumper crops of cocoa and an influx of new investment sus¬tained a robust expansion of GDP. Now, however, though the fundamentals remain attractive, short-term pressures have led to a downturn. External factors – including weakness in key exports like crude oil, gold and cocoa – have contributed, while a depreciating currency, high interest rates, elevated inflation and a ballooning fiscal deficit have exacerbated the declines. To address the structural problems in the econ¬omy and remove the most pressing obstacles to growth, in April 2015 Ghana and the IMF embarked on a three-year, $918m extended credit facility and fiscal consolidation programme aimed at restoring debt sustainability and macroeconomic stability. The programme has already brought measurable macroe¬conomic gains, but there is much to be done still.

This chapter contains an interview with Mawuena Trebarh, CEO, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.