TV Series of Economic History of Ghana

The television version of An Economic History of Ghana-Reflections on a Half Century of Challenges and Progress will start showing on Ghana Television (GTV) from Monday November 10 2008.

The Series of three episodes is a companion to the book of the same title which was written and produced by Ivor Agyeman-Duah and recently launched in Accra by the former Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Dr. K.Y. Amoako. The first episode, Structures and Institutions in a Post- Colonial Economy is at 9.30pm on November 10 followed on Tuesday with A Vampire Economy With a Silver Lining from 8-9pm and finally Crossing the Jordan: Stimulation and Innovation in the Economy on Thursday from November 13 from 9pm.

The Series which has the participation of distinguished international and local economists, scholars, politicians look at how the inheritance of the colonial economy from 1957 under Nkrumah has shaped the contours of it in the early years of the twenty-first century; it looks also at the role of institutions, policy and stimulation to the post-colonial structures.The participants include UN Secretary-General's advisor, Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Development, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, Dr. Nii Moi Thompson of the Convention Peoples' Party, Dr. Gareth Austin of the London School of Economics, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, former Vice President, Dr. Anthony Akoto-Osei, Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, Executive Chairman of the Databank Financial Services , Dr. Gobind Nankani, former Vice President of the World Bank for Africa and others.

According to the writer and producer, Mr. Ivor Agyeman-Duah, “What this Series seeks to do is to use a multidisciplinary strategy to access Ghana's economic trajectory in the last 50 years and the way forward."

The Series and the companion book which have had tremendous international endorsement including from The Royal Africa Society in London would be launched at the African Studies Association annual conference, the biggest gathering of writers and scholars on Africa, in Chicago next week.