Macroeconomic and Developmental Indicators
Sectors driving growth
Sectoral Projects in which EBID Intends to Intervene in Ghana
There are quite a number of areas the Bank can assist Ghana in. These include the following:
- Agriculture: livestock, crops (cash and non-cash), and fisheries;
- Mining, specifically bauxite. Ghana’s bauxite reserves are estimated at over US$400 billion but it remains a largely under-exploited resource, compared to gold;
- Energy: strengthening of transmission lines to facilitate the export of power;
- Railway: the government is building railway infrastructure to connect the commercial centres of the economy. Railways are also being built to connect natural resource hubs (e.g. bauxite and manganese mines) to facilitate transportation. Some of these railways are meant to interconnect some ECOWAS Member States;
- Healthcare: planned construction of 88 new district hospitals
- Telecommunications sector: It has had impressive growth over the years; and
- Financial services.
Expected impacts of EBID’s intervention in Ghana
- Ensure the supply of basic food and food security;
- The Bank’s proposed involvement in the above-listed projects and others are meant to:
- Improve healthcare delivery and improve the well-being of the citizenry;
- Help create and sustain jobs, through interventions in agriculture, industry and infrastructure projects;
- Improve transportation infrastructure and facilitate regional integration;
- Help create smart and sustainable cities.
EBID Country Strategy
Ghana has been one of the countries with relatively high and consistent economic growth over the last decade. This has been occasioned by strong performances in the services sector and output from the burgeoning upstream petroleum industry. Oil and gas revenues have enabled the country to undertake expansionary fiscal policies, leveraging these resources to develop infrastructure and provide social goods.
That notwithstanding, the country’s reliance on commodity revenues was put to the test in 2015, when crude oil and other commodity prices declined markedly. The fiscal tightness that ensued left in its wake a lower GDP growth rate than what the economy was used to, as new taxes were introduced to shore up the government’s financial position.
Some of the most consistent performing subsectors include the crops, livestock, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, information and communication and electricity subsectors. Even though most of these subsectors belong to the agriculture and industry sectors, the services sector remains the largest shareholder of GDP, followed by the industry and agriculture sectors.
Ghana’s development framework is encapsulated by the:
- Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies (2017-2024);
- the Agenda for Jobs: Creating Prosperity and Equal Opportunity for All (2018-2021); and
- Ghana Beyond Aid development strategy; and
- Transformation Agenda.
- The Transformation Agenda is underpinned by the following themes:
- Revitalizing the Economy;
- Transforming the Agriculture and Industry Sectors;
- Strengthening Social Protection and Inclusion;
- Revamping Economic and Social infrastructure; and
- Reforming Public Service Delivery Institutions.
Given the numerous opportunities for structural transformation in Ghana, the Bank will consider interventions in the following areas:
- Agriculture: livestock, crops (cash and non-cash), and fisheries;
- Mining, specifically bauxite. Ghana’s bauxite reserves are estimated at over US$400 billion but it remains a largely under-exploited resource, compared to gold;
- Railway: the government is building railway infrastructure to connect the commercial centres of the economy. Railways are also being built to connect natural resource hubs (e.g. bauxite and manganese mines) to facilitate transportation. Some of these railways are meant to interconnect some ECOWAS Member States;
- Healthcare: planned construction of 88 new district hospitals
- Telecommunications sector: It has had impressive growth over the years; and
- Financial services.