Ghana has the world's largest manmade lake and the 1-gigawatt Aksombo Hydroelectric Plant, built to supply electricity to Africa's largest aluminum smelter. But the smelter has been idle since 2009, a casualty of low aluminum prices and persistent electricity shortages that have forced the government to divert the power elsewhere.

Ghana is a typical example of the world's worst-managed economies: It's a country that shouldn't be poor, but it is. The West African nation's gross domestic product per capita fell 9% last year to US$621, ranking it 154th out of 184 countries tracked by the International Monetary Fund, below resource-impoverished Haiti. With a US$3 billion trade deficit last year and $4.9 billion in external debt, Ghana is struggling to pay its bills even as it sits on some of the world's biggest reserves of gold and bauxite, as well as considerable amounts of offshore oil, which is being developed by Anadarko Petroleum and others.
Ghana's problems are mostly homegrown," said Peter Allum, the IMF's mission chief to Ghana, in February. Forbes ranks Ghana ninth on our list of the world's worst economies.

Onlytruth:

I'm shocked by these findings!  

I thought Ghana was doing well.

Onlytruth:

I guess this is part of why it is hard to completely diss Naija. In spite of all the HELL we've been through, somehow we always come ahead in Africa. Other countries in Africa which experienced a little of our troubles, the value of their currencies have all gone haywire.

In 1994, Zimbabwe dollars was about 2 Zim$ to 1 US$; today, it is over 1 million Zim dollars to 1 USD.
In just under under 20 years, Zimbabwe went to the dogs. Meanwhile, their dictator is not even worse than ours.

9jaganja:

Of course we can't completely diss Nigeria. Only a few bobble heads here diss Nigeria. Majority of what people say about Nigeria here is constructive criticism just that we have a few uncle toms and aunt McKenzies who see nothing but evil in Nigeria. Nigeria is not resting her head on the right shoulders though. Ghana is destroying a good start. Imagine what they did to glo a fellow West African company. The thing is if Ghanaian investors have their own mobile operator, they can't compete with glo that already has more than 40mil customers in Nigeria. But if they relax on their policies, their operators could operate in Nigeria as well.

banku:

Are you happy because you are comparing Nigeria with the worst?

Try and compare Nigeria with the best, then wonder why we are not one of them or better.
Do we need to join a bunch of blind people despite our human and resource potential?

9jaganja:

I thought so too. Hopefully they wake up and realize they need all Africans for their products to have value. Nigeria is currently tapping into an AU's policy that allows Africans to invest anywhere on the continent and also allow African companies to operate in Nigeria without slamming same policies they slam on foreign companies on them.  Ghana can become the economic power house of West Africa if they stop playing politics with ECOWAS. South Africa and Nigeria are enjoying good economical relationship though little politics play but not as strict as Ghana's politically motivated policies that ruin economic relationships.

Gbawe:

Even as I agree with some of what you wrote , the part in bold is , frankly, impossible. No Country in West Africa has the innate potential to become the "economic powerhouse of West Africa" ahead of Nigeria. It is simply not possible because of the huge disparity in human and natural resources between Nigeria and other West African nations. Our population, labour Market (skilled and unskilled) , natural endowment and vast goods/services consumer market (that saw Nigeria become one of the fastest growing telecom market in the world) are serious economic considerations no West African nation has or can gain anytime soon !!!!

Do you know that many respected non-African (and therefore non-partisan) economic analyst have posited that the Nigerian economy may become the biggest in Africa (toppling South Africa) as early as 2011-2012?

there are too many other indices that show , even with abject mismanagement of its resources, just how economically far ahead Nigeria is in comparison with other West African nations . Suffice to say that if Nigeria , assisted by good leadership, operates optimally for the next 10 years it can become something few nations in Africa (and non in West Africa) can become - one of the top 20 economies of the World in the near future.

^^^Am sure that if you take away the top 10% of the population, the lower 90% of Ghana's population will have a per capita income comparable to Naija.

paddy_lo:

what are u rambling on about. . Nigerias per capita income is about 3 times ghanas. . higher not lower

so what point are u making again?

Wealth distribution. . . .

paddy_lo:

what are u rambling on about. . Nigerias per capita income is about 3 times ghanas. . higher not lower

so what point are u making again?

Eddeux:

Ghana has the potential to develop before Nigeria does. Actually there was a report on this on how if Ghana uses its oil reserves wisly it can funnel the profits made from this back into infrastructure and development of the standard of living for its people. Though  what you said about no other West African country having the potential of Nigeria is true, it doesn't mean that they possibly won't develop or attract more attention than Nigeria until Nigeria can get its act together.  If you ask me Nigeria is far more unstable than Ghana, and if the worst was to happen in Nigeria (say a split up) then Ghana would definitely be regarded as the nation that could help develop West Africa along with rapid development within its borders.

Nigeria may be in the G20 by 2020 but unless reforms start soon I don't see it happening. Sorry but yes Nigeria has the potential and is receiving the most investor attention in West Africa but the leaders don't seem to be phased with development.

Ibime:

Wealth distribution. . . .

EzeUche:

^^^^^^^^

Resource poor Western Nigeria?

Ghana is more like Eastern Nigeria. We have the nation's wealth but it is being exploited by the people in the North and West.

Who has the oil? The East does. . . Who has the coal. . . the East does. . . who has the copper? the East does. . . Do you see the trend?