COUNTRY PROFILE Ghana Our quarterly Country Report on Ghana analyses current trends. This annual Country Profile provides background economic and political information. 1998-99 The Economist Intelligence Unit 15 Regent Street, London SW1Y 4LR United Kingdom The Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit is a specialist publisher serving companies establishing and managing operations across national borders. For over 50 years it has been a source of information on business developments, economic and political trends, government regulations and corporate practice worldwide. The EIU delivers its information in four ways: through subscription products ranging from newsletters to annual reference works; through specific research reports, whether for general release or for particular clients; through electronic publishing; and by organising conferences and roundtables. The firm is a member of The Economist Group. 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ISSN 0269-4549 Symbols for tables “n/a” means not available; “–” means not applicable Printed and distributed by Redhouse Press Ltd, Unit 151, Dartford Trade Park, Dartford, Kent DA1 1QB, UK Comparative economic indicators, 1997 Gross domestic product Gross domestic product per head $ bn $ Nigeria 29.2 Côte d'Ivoire Côte d'Ivoire Guinea Ghana Senegal Senegal Mauritania Guinea Ghana Mali Benin Burkina Faso Togo Benin The Gambia Niger Nigeria Togo Mali Mauritania Guinea-Bissau The Gambia Burkina Faso Guinea-Bissau Niger 024681012 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 Source: EIU estimates. Source: EIU estimates. Gross domestic product Consumer prices % change, year on year % change, year on year Burkina Faso Ghana Mali Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau Nigeria Côte d'Ivoire Côte d'Ivoire Ghana Mauritania Mauritania Benin Guinea Togo Togo Niger Niger The Gambia Nigeria Guinea The Gambia Burkina Faso Senegal Senegal Benin Mali 01234567 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Sources: EIU estimates; national sources. Sources: EIU estimates; national sources. EIU Country Profile 1998-99 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 1998 1 June 25th 1998 Contents 3 Basic data 4 Political background 4 Historical background 8 Constitution and institutions 9 Political forces 10 International relations and defence 11 The economy 11 Economic structure 12 Economic policy 14 Economic performance 15 Regional trends 16 Resources 16 Population 16 Education 17 Health 18 Natural resources and the environment 19 Economic infrastructure 19 Transport and communications 20 Energy provision 21 Financial services 23 Production 23 Manufacturing 24 Mining and semi-processing 25 Agriculture and forestry 27 The external sector 27 Merchandise trade 29 Invisibles and the current account 30 Capital flows and foreign debt 31 Foreign reserves and the exchange rate 32 Appendices 32 Regional organisations 42 Sources of information 44 Reference tables 44 Government finances 44 Money supply 44 Interest rates 45 Gross domestic product 45 Gross domestic product by expenditure 46 Gross domestic product by sector 46 Price indices © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 1998 EIU Country Profile 1998-99 2 46 Population and labour force 47 Transport statistics 47 Stockmarket indicators 48 Manufacturing production 48 Minerals production 48 Production of selected food crops 49 Exports 49 Main trading partners 50 Balance of payments, IMF estimates 50 Balance of payments, national estimates 51 External debt, World Bank estimates 51 Net official development assistance 52 Foreign reserves 52 Exchange rates EIU Country Profile 1998-99 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 1998 Ghana: Basic data 3 Ghana Basic data Land area 238,537 sq km Population 18.5m (mid-1997 EIU estimate) Main towns Population in ’000 (1988, national estimates) Accra (capital) 972 Tema 440 Kumasi 206 Climate Tropical Weather in Accra Hottest months, March, April, 23-31°C; coldest month, August, 22-27°C; driest (altitude 27 metres) month, January, 15 mm average rainfall; wettest month, June, 178 mm average rainfall Languages English (official), Ewe, Fante, Ga, Hausa, Twi Measures Metric system Currency Cedi (C)=100 pesewas. Average exchange rate in 1997: C2,050:$1. Exchange rate on June 19th 1998: C2,320.0:$1 Time GMT Holidays January 1st, January 7th, March 6th (Independence), Good Friday, Easter Monday, May 1st, July 1st, December 25th-26th © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 1998 EIU Country Profile 1998-99 4 Ghana: Historical background Political background Ghana is a unitary republic with a multiparty democratic system. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) won the democratic elections in both 1992 and 1996, having already ruled the country for over a decade following a military coup in 1981. The NDC’s charismatic leader, Jerry Rawlings, is constitutionally barred from contending the 2000 presidential election and the vice-president, John Atta Mills, is expected to stand in his place. Historical background Early history Ghana’s history is better documented than that of most countries in Sub- Saharan Africa, because of the area’s early importance in regional and inter- continental trading networks. The Akan, the largest ethnic group in present- day Ghana, have predominated since at least 1400, when chiefs based in the central forest supplied kola nuts and gold to the trans-Saharan caravan trade to the north. By 1700 several chiefs from the forest had subdued their rivals with guns bartered from European coastal traders and established the Ashanti king- dom. They built a highly organised hierarchical political system of remarkable military strength, which extended Ashanti control over all forest routes to the coast, and with it the supply of slaves and gold. The coast, named the Gold Coast by Portuguese gold traders a century earlier, was dominated by a different Akan subgroup of Fante-speaking peoples. An estimated 1m people were channelled into the slave trade, a regional tradition that was internationalised by Dutch traders but brought to its zenith by the British in the 18th century. The British came as traders. However, in the late 19th century Anglo-French rivalry brought a shift in favour of territorial acquisition. During the scramble for Africa, Britain invaded the Ashanti kingdom in 1874 and declared the Gold Coast a British colony, which, after a struggle, it controlled by 1901. The British opted for a colonial economy based on peasant cash-crop prod- uction, mainly of cocoa, and on gold mining, controlled by foreign interests. Farmers’ initiatives and local familiarity with international trade brought rela- tive prosperity. The Gold Coast became one of Africa’s most successful colonial economies. The earliest political movements were dominated by lawyers and other edu- cated elites who had been excluded from politics by the colonial state. After the second world war other social groups also became involved. The newer recruits wanted more jobs in the administration and business opportunities in the colonial system. By 1949 nationalists split into moderates and radicals, the latter supporting Kwame Nkrumah’s Convention People’s Party (CPP). Backed mainly by young people and poorer sections of the middle class, the CPP won elections and in 1957 made Ghana the first country to gain post-colonial independence in Sub-Saharan Africa. EIU Country Profile 1998-99 © The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited 1998 Ghana: Historical background 5 The causes of Ghana experienced nine changes of government including four military coups post-independence between 1957 and 1983, but has escaped the violence that afflicted many other instability African countries. For the most part, economic management and the distrib- ution of resources between interest groups have been the commonest sources of dissatisfaction. In contrast to much of Africa, ethnicity has played a rela- tively minor role in mainstream political conflicts. The Socialist CPP The CPP government was ostensibly socialist, with a mainly southern, urban- based constituency. The CPP laid much of the basis of Ghana’s present indus- trial infrastructure but its policies alienated cocoa farmers and influential private-sector businesses. It introduced a one-party state in 1964 and became corrupt and intolerant of criticism. The NLC and PP: attempts In 1966 an economic crisis and rumours of cuts in the military’s resources at structural adjustment prompted Ghana’s first (bloodless) military coup, by conservative generals, who formed the National Liberation Council (NLC).