Ghanaians unhappy about economy and living conditions

Most Ghanaians described the country’s economic condition and their living conditions as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’, the latest Afrobarometer (AB) shows.

The AB Survey report by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD Ghana) findings also indicates that nearly four in 10 Ghanaians are pessimistic about the economic conditions in the coming year.

Mr Daniel Armah-Attoh, CDD Ghana Senior Researcher and AB Project Coordinator said the findings of the survey would help policy makers in the formulation of policies for national development.

He said the AB Project Team interviewed 2,400 adult Ghanaians from May 24 to June 10 2014 from 177 of 216 districts in the country.

He observed that the survey sample yields results with a margin of error of plus or minus two at the 95 per cent confidence level, adding that, previous surveys had been conducted in Ghana in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2012.

The data is being released as Ghana engages with the International Monetary Fund and other development partners in an effort to boost international confidence and solicit support for the country’s programme for economic stabilization and growth.

Key findings include eight in 10 respondents or 80 per cent assess Ghana’s economic conditions as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’, while 52 per cent believed they had gotten ‘worse’ or ‘much worse’ compared to the previous year.

According to the survey, more Ghanaians were pessimistic; 38 per cent than are optimistic; 30 per cent about improvement over the next 12 months.

It said compared to the living conditions of other Ghanaians, 42 per cent rated their conditions as ‘worse’ or ‘much worse’.

The AB survey said close to six in 10 Ghanaians; 57 per cent report lacking cash income sometime in the past year, whereas on average, more than one quarter reports going without the following necessities sometime in the past year: food 28 per cent, water 26 per cent, and medical care 26 per cent.

According to the survey, 70 per cent of Ghanaians believe government had been ‘ineffective’ or ‘very ineffective’ in using oil revenues to improve living conditions in the country.

The AB is an African-led, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude, surveys on democracy, governance, economic conditions, and related issues across more than 30 countries in Africa.

Five rounds of surveys were conducted between 1999and 2013 and around six surveys are currently under way (2014/2015).

The AB conducts face to face interviews in the language of the respondent’s choice with nationally representative samples of between 1,200 and 2,400 respondents.