Africa Economy

ETIQUETTE: Ghana has a deserved reputation for hospitality. Manners and etiquette are important, which means that using correct honorifics and respectful greetings in business meetings is expected. Shaking hands is customary, and it is polite to spend a few moments engaged in casual conversation...

Ghana has long had an outsized presence on the diplomatic stage. This can be seen not only in the country’s role in multilateral organisations, but also in the strategic way it has cultivated links with some of the world’s largest economies.

Decentralisation is an increasingly common trend throughout African countries, and Ghana is no exception. Over the past two decades, the country has taken significant steps to improve and empower local and regional governance, although the issue has been brought into sharper focus in the last five years with the discovery and production of the...

The primary regional body of East Africa, ECOWAS, represents a grand ambition. Dedicated to establishing a single currency and Customs union, with fully integrated economies and open borders, the path ahead is a challenging one. The tribulations of the EU bear witness to the complexity of establishing a truly common market, and the...

Situated in the Gulf of Guinea on Africa’s western seaboard, the natural resources of Ghana and its emergence as a stable democracy have established the country as a prominent player in the region. It is the world’s second-largest exporter of cocoa, behind neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire, and one of the continent’s largest gold producers....

Rising external pressures, as well as a drop in key foreign currency earners and export revenues have caused the Ghanaian cedi to struggle in recent years. The combination of internal and external challenges includes the country’s balance sheet, commodity prices, the cost of imported oil and gas for power generation, and the rising demand for...