Ghana’s Economy On The Verge Of Growth

…Consumer Drive Is The Secret

By Newman Dotse

Ghana, Africa’s hope is on a fast track out of poverty, even though the government is being too slow in tackling the unemployment situation in the Country. Ghana’s astonishing growth and political stability is making it an increasingly enticing destination for global companies as its neighbouring countries stutter.

It is now obvious that the scourges of poverty, disease and ethnic conflicts are fast retreating and in their place is emerging an unprecedented middle class with a buying power.

Ghana is the fastest growing country in Africa, according to an IMF report.

Reports available to The Citizen Newspaper indicate that much of Ghana's growth is being driven by the resource-hungry economies of China, America, and India and to a rapidly decreasing degree, Europe.

Proportional political stability has played a big part in the country's turnaround, and although there are flashpoints and corruption is menacing and problematic, ethnic conflicts that thwart development efforts are far less of a standard feature than they were in some years ago.

Another growth propeller has been the spread of technology, especially cell phone technology and, increasingly, mobile internet, which is providing national global inclusivity to even the most rural Ghanaians.

Globacom’s presence will also serve as a bolster to the economy as Glo is estimated to provide employment to over 7000 people in the Country.

Few days after the launch of Glo’s commercial service, many Ghanaians and non Ghanaians living in the country are rushing for the Glo’s SIM cards. This however shows the interest Ghanaians have in the mobile telephony industry, one of the driving forces of Ghana’s economy.

An estimated 20 million Ghanaians, representing over 90% of the entire population of the country will have a cell phone by the end of this year and about 30% of these will have access to the mobile internet. As well as communication, cell phones are integral to the uptake of banking products and they make it easy for companies to communicate with consumers and to advertise.

However, medical technology, mosquito nets and condoms have driven down the growth thus sapping incidence of malaria and Aids that are currently affecting productivity.

Research conducted by The Citizen Newspaper indicates that the growth in consumer spending, as well as government infrastructure spending has pushed up employment rates, both informally and formally. Overspending of consumers is currently putting intense pressure on the cedi as dollar continues to fly high.

The mobile telephony industry will do better this year than other sectors because Ghanaians interest in telecommunication is soaring as research shows that an estimated 20million Ghanaians will have a cell phone by next year (2013). This, by estimation, indicates that poverty level in Ghana is taking a downward trend because it takes money to purchase a cell phone and recharge cards.

The above development cannot be attributed to any single political party because all the political parties in the country contributed to the political stability that gave birth to it.

Ghana could have done better but unfortunately, most of the politicians we have in this country are too inward-looking and do not care about the welfare of the masses they are supposed to be serving. They beg for power and become dictators with long itchy hands soon after grabbing power and begin to ransack state coffers shamelessly to satisfy their own curiosity, thus leaving those they are supposed to serve in abject poverty.

Source: The Citizen Newspaper (thecitizen.news@yahoo.com) +233 27 731 4655 www.thecitizenghana.com