The centrality of Ghanaian social and political
economy is well establish, this essay is to enumerate the developmental
benefits of Ghana's oil find.
There are some key words which need to be expatiated
- development, what is meant by oil and the Ghanaian economy. Development
of a country is the progress that is made or being made in every sphere of the
country, being it social, economic, political, just to mention but a few; crude oil,
is naturally occurring
oily, bituminous liquid composed of various organic chemicals. It is found in
large quantities below the surface of Earth and is used as a fuel and as a raw
material in the chemical industry. Modern industrial societies use it primarily
to achieve a degree of mobility—on land, at sea, and in the air—that was barely
imaginable less than 100 years ago; Ghanaian economy can be considered as an
economy that has gone under various changes through time, from agrarian to
industrialized, and has now attain a bit of equilibrium. Development benefits
can be classified under social, economic, and political.
Firstly, some of the social benefits of the
oil are: boosting the spending on job training and education, infrastructure
development, these are the central points as well as social benefits are
concerned. The citizens (Ghanaians) must be helped in training programs that
will help them personally and also help in the reduction of unemployment in the
country, the oil wealth will increase the standard of living of Ghanaians.
Education is also another social benefit that the country and citizens will enjoy
as well as developmental benefits of the oil are concerned. The education level
in the country will increase in order to increase the literacy level in the
country. The benefits of the oil in the country must be structured in such a
way that the educational sector will be given a greater concern than being done
now. Another social benefit is the infrastructural development, that is, the
infrastructure
of the country will not be sidelined in the development of the country.
Infrastructure should be in the way of providing of public toilets at the rural
and also the cities or urban, police stations must also be provided in the
various rural areas, also there must be provision of post offices and clean
pipe borne water at various regions within the country. These social
developments should not be concentrated only on some part of the country but
all the country. By the mention of social benefits the only central point is
the conducive environment.
Secondly,
economic developmental benefits must be with the general sphere in the country,
talking about agriculture sector, health sector, to mention but just a few. The
will be rise industrial production and expansion and improve in the quality of
agriculture. These will be successful if most of the oils revenue is invested
into the production of raw materials in the country before exporting them. Also
Investment must allocate to mineral resources, communications, housing, and
petrochemicals. Also Ghana will increase its deposits in foreign banks, while
at the same time reducing its outstanding debt. Also Tourism is one sector of
the economy that must be targeted for development, the formation of commercial
banks to finance tourism projects should be encourage so that there will be a
bank for tourism as it being done in other countries in Africa. With high oil
revenues it will enable the government to post large budget surpluses, Ghana
will enjoy a substantial surplus in its overall trade with other countries;
imports will increase rapidly; and ample government revenues will be available
for development, and defense. The
emergence of oil in the country will encourage foreign direct investment.
Thirdly,
the political benefits must not also be forgotten, and these must be in the
form of distribution of the oil benefits across the country using institutions
that are guided by efficient and rationality. The political system will
transform if and only the political leaders are able to use the money
efficiently for the state and not vice versa. Distribution or allocation of the
resources is the main concern of politics and I believe that with emergence of
oil in the country our politics will go extremely right.
Finally I
will like to state that the emergence of oil in the country will help the
country to increase in its economic, political. Social and all other aspects of
the country including internal and external.
Lamptey
Alfred
Knust.
Alfredlamptey@yahoo.com.
