The population of Ghana in 2017 was 28,8 million people, with the majority living in rural areas. The economy of Ghana is largely based on services, industry, and agriculture, with a GDP of $52.3 billion and a relatively low per capita income. Ghana is a member of the United Nations, African Union (AU), World Trade Organization (WTO) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It has close ties to many countries throughout Africa as well as its former British colonial masters. In terms of politics, it is a unitary presidential republic with President Nana Akufo-Addo as its head of state. The Prime Minister is Nana Akufo-Addo who leads the New Patriotic Party which has been in power since 2017. See militarynous for Ghana military and defense.
Yearbook 2017
Ghana. According to Countryaah.com, Nana Akufo-Addo, who won the 2016 presidential election, swore in early January. Shortly thereafter, he presented a government of 36 ministers. Two of the heaviest items went to women: Shirley Ayorkor Botchway became Foreign Minister and Gloria Akuffo was appointed Minister of Justice. In total, just under a third of the newly appointed ministers were women. Akufo-Addo was later criticized for the fact that the government, including deputy ministers and ministers with only regional responsibilities, consisted of over 100 people. According to a representative of the opposition party National Democratic Congress (NDC), the president was most interested in getting work for his close supporters. Akufo-Addo defended its record-breaking administration with the need to quickly bring about change in the country.
In April, among other things, the UN condemned the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for not controlling the violent gangs of youth who are considered to be close to the party. Most parties have loosely linked youth leagues. Members are usually recruited from poor neighborhoods. During the spring, attention was mainly paid to a couple of actions carried out by the NPP-linked gang Delta Boys. In March, about 200 of the League’s members forcibly tried to force a senior official at a government office. The following month, a court in the city of Kumasi stormed in an attempt to release 13 gang members who were charged with violent crime. See ABBREVIATIONFINDER for frequently used acronyms and abbreviations related to as well as country profile of Ghana.
The protracted border dispute between Ghana and Ivory Coast was finally settled by the International Maritime Law Court (ITLOS). The conflict has involved a sea area with oil and gas deposits. The question has been where the border between the countries’ economic zones goes and by extension where they have the right to extract natural resources. The Ivory Coast has previously demanded that Ghana stop all oil extraction in the area, but ITLOS in 2015 gave Ghana the right to continue with ongoing extraction. With the strike, which was in Ghana’s favor, drilling for new finds can be resumed. Both countries announced that they respected the court’s ruling, which came in September.
Economy
The mining sector has its strength in the gold production point (extraction has steadily increased and now hovers about 35. 000 kg per year: from 1992 the value of gold exports exceeded that of cocoa exports ). The sector is organized by a public company in which, however, the participation of the state has progressively decreased (in 1996 it was only 20 %; the rest of the shareholding was divided between transnational companies). To enhance the exploitation of gold, large new investments have been made in order to bring its annual production to over 50. 000 kg. Diamonds, bauxite and manganese are then extracted from the subsoil. Since 1978 the country has become an oil producer, but the quantities obtained are modest and completely insufficient (Nigeria remains the main supplier).
With the construction of the Akosombo dam, Ghana has become self-sufficient from an energy point of view, even if the irregularity of the rainfall causes interruptions in supply. Plans are being made to upgrade the hydroelectric plants in Kpong and Bui, which should allow the network to be extended to the northern regions of the country and also guarantee an export flow to neighboring countries, while a thermoelectric power plant is being built in Takoradi to provide a adequate amount of energy to industry.
From the point of view of transport, Ghana has two large ports, Takoradi and Tema, both of which need improvement. The country has just under a thousand km of railways and about 7000 km of paved roads. The creation of Lake Volta favored internal connections, even if the traffic by water remained rather modest. Kotoka International Airport is located near Accra.