Ghana's poverty is self-inflicted despite vast wealth of natural resources – Dr Kwakye

The Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), John Kwabena Kwakye, has expressed concern over the state of Ghana’s economy despite the country being endowed with abundant natural resources.

According to him, Ghana should not be poverty-stricken, considering the wealth it possesses in various forms of natural resources.

He urged the country's leaders to emulate other African nations in order to lift Ghana out of what he described as self-inflicted poverty.

In a post on his X page on April 9, 2025, he wrote, “When we have vast natural resource wealth, we can't talk about a lack of resources to develop Ghana. Our poverty is self-inflicted. Our leaders must take control of our natural resource wealth—a la Rwanda, Botswana, Eritrea, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali—to break our poverty chains.”

Ghana is blessed with a variety of mineral and natural resources, including gold, bauxite, copper, diamonds, aluminum, large forest reserves, and salt, among others.

However, the country continues to struggle with massive debts and an over-reliance on raw exports.

Analysts attribute this situation to the mismanagement of the economy by successive political administrations.

They emphasise the need for a paradigm shift and a revolutionary approach to reset the economy and harness the nation’s resources to build a better Ghana.

SSD/MA

Watch the latest edition of BizTech below:



Click here to follow the GhanaWeb Business WhatsApp channel