Dr. Stephen Armah, Senior Lecturer at Ashesi, and currently Visiting Scholar in Residence at Denison University, has presented a set of strategies that could help stimulate Ghana’s economy for the long-term. The strategies address challenges with Ghana’s institutions, corruption, fiscal policy reform and infrastructure development, and proposes a path for consolidating Ghana’s development efforts.
Presented in a short paper as part of volume 2 of the Ashesi Economic Lecture Series (AELS) Journal), the strategy document offers a brief historical analysis of Ghana’s economic growth performance, explaining how various miscalculations have led to weaker outcomes.
"Despite several efforts to diversify and transform its economy, Ghana’s efforts have yielded mediocre rewards because of institutional weaknesses that have given opportunities for corruption," according to the article. "Furthermore, lower than necessary investment in education, power generation, transportation infrastructure and mismanagement of the economy leading to high debt levels and inflation have hindered progress on transforming the economy. Finally, self-imposed problems – which can be easily rectified with committed, ethical, and visionary leadership combined with technical competence and prudent economic management - have been major impediments to development."
The AELS journal is a compilation of selected, peer-reviewed papers presented at the Ashesi Economics Lecture Series. The papers address economic and public policy issues of relevance to the international community and to the Sub-Saharan African region.