Ghana

The case study in Ghana examines mechanisms for tracking the outcomes of aid-for-trade interventions in the agriculture sector and recommends ways to improve on existing frameworks in order to measure the performance of donor interventions. The study notes that there is considerable co-ordination between the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and development partners present in Ghana. Co-ordination largely takes place during annual joint sector reviews. These also include monitoring and evaluation, and some of the frameworks also incorporate agricultural related targets and performance indicators. Missing from the reviews, however, are discussions about the impact of donor support on the trade performance of the agricultural sector. While there are many donor activities in the agriculture sector, most lack objectives directly related to trade, while the indicators that are being used tend to focus more on domestic outcomes - in particular reducing imports of agricultural products, such as rice, rather than on pursuing an export agenda. The case study suggests that Ghana’s Aid Policy and Strategy, which encompasses measures for monitoring and evaluating aid in general, should be expanded introducing trade objectives and indicators which should prioritise agricultural export diversification, raising export earnings, and increasing the share of processed (value-added) agriculture products.

La croissance du produit intérieur brut (PIB) a ralenti en 2012, à 7.1 %, contre 14.4 % en 2011. Le pic de croissance de 2011 était dû au démarrage de la production de pétrole au dernier trimestre 2010. La croissance atteinte en 2012 l’a été malgré un recul de la production de cacao et de la production pétrolière. Les perspectives à moyen terme du Ghana restent favorables : le taux de croissance devrait atteindre 8.0 % en 2013 et 8.7 % en 2014 (respectivement 6.5 % et 8.9 % pour le secteur non pétrolier), bien au-dessus du taux annuel moyen de 6.5 % enregistré depuis 2000. On s’attend à ce que les investissements effectués dans les secteurs du gaz et du pétrole, les infrastructures publiques et l’agriculture commerciale tirent cette croissance.

Gross domestic product (GDP) growth decelerated from 14.4% in 2011 to 7.1% in 2012. The economic growth peak in 2011 was due to the start-up of oil production in the last quarter of 2010. The growth performance in 2012 was achieved despite lower cocoa and oil production. Ghana’s medium-term outlook remains healthy, with projected GDP growth of 8.0% (6.5% non-oil) in 2013 and 8.7% (8.9% non-oil) in 2014, well above the average annual growth rate of 6.5% for the period since 2000. Investments in the oil and gas sectors, public infrastructure and commercial agriculture are expected to drive this growth.

In 2011, Ghana made progress in consolidating the gains made in the management of its macro-economy in 2010 as year on year inflation dropped to 8.7 % and the fiscal deficit fell to 4.3 % of gross domestic product (GDP). The GDP growth for 2011 is projected to increase sharply from 7.7 % in 2010 to 13.7 % (7.5 % non-oil) aided by oil revenues and strong export performance of cocoa and gold. Future growth prospects remain strongly positive with projections of 8.3 % and 7.7 % for 2012 and 2013 respectively. Oil production and mining activities led industrial sector growth at 36.2 %. This was followed by the services sector (5.8 %) and the agricultural sector (5.2 %).

La gestion macroéconomique s'est encore améliorée en 2011, avec une inflation réduite à 8.7 % et un déficit budgétaire ramené à 4.3 % du PIB. La croissance est estimée à 13.7 % en 2011 (et 7.5 % hors secteur pétrolier) contre 7.7 % en 2010, grâce aux revenus du pétrole et les exportations d'or et de cacao. Les perspectives restent très favorables, avec 8.3% de croissance en 2012 et 7.7% en 2013 selon les prévisions. La production pétrolière et les activités minières ont tiré la croissance du secteur industriel (36.2 % en 2011). Viennent ensuite les services (5.8 %) et l'agriculture (5.2 %).

Unlike case studies that concentrate on a particular SEA, this example seeks to explain how ideas about EIA, SEA and environmental mainstreaming have been progressively developed in Ghana over the last 20 years. By tracing the evolution of environmental assessment processes over an extended period, it is possible to show how significant changes of attitude and understanding have been introduced by SEA and related processes, and to discuss outcomes in environmental governance that are not immediately apparent from examining the performance of individual SEAs.

Ghana has rebased its national accounts, changing the base year from 1993 to 2006. According to the national authorities, following the rebasing, the size of the economy in real GDP terms has been raised threefold and placed Ghana among the lower middle income group of countries. The rebasing has also suggested greater fiscal space for Ghana with a reduced revenue-to-GDP ratio. While questions on the international acceptability of the new numbers remain, one point is clear: they confirm what most observers have often suggested, namely that the size of the Ghanaian economy has hitherto been grossly under-estimated.

After about a decade of relatively strong economic performance with real gross domestic product (GDP) growing at an average of about 6% annually over the last five years, there was greater uncertainty about Ghana’s economic growth prospects at the beginning of 2009. Unsurprisingly, economic growth slowed in 2009, to a mere 4.7% – the lowest since 2002 – after rising to a two-decade high of 7.3% in 2008. Economic growth is expected to recover modestly to 6.4% in 2010 and accelerate to 8.3% in 2011 on the back of global recovery, exceptional public investment in the rising oil sector, and revenues from anticipated new oil discoveries.

Après une décennie de bonnes performances, le produit intérieur brut (PIB) ayant progressé au rythme moyen de 6 % par an depuis 2004, le début de 2009 a été marqué par l’incertitude quant aux perspectives de croissance du Ghana. Comme on pouvait s’y attendre, le ralentissement a bien eu lieu en 2009, avec 4.7 % de croissance, le plus faible taux depuis 2002, alors que le pays avait atteint un pic de 7.3 % en 2008. La croissance devrait reprendre légèrement en 2010 pour s’établir à 6.4 %, avant d’atteindre 8.3 % en 2011, sous l’impulsion de la reprise mondiale, mais aussi des investissements publics exceptionnels dans le secteur pétrolier et des recettes attendues des nouveaux champs pétroliers.

Ghana’s 1992 Constitution officially bans all cruel and inhumane aspects of cultural and traditional norms. The Criminal Code imposes sanctions with respect to defilement, forced marriages, customary servitude, female genital mutilation, abuse of widowhood rites and the practice of banishment of “witches”.

L’ÉCONOMIE GHANÉENNE CONTINUE d’afficher une belle santé, mais avec l’assombrissement de la conjoncture mondiale, les autorités devront s’attaquer à la dégradation des soldes budgétaire et extérieur. Le secteur privé réagit positivement aux programmes de développement du gouvernement et l’amélioration de l’environnement des affaires – qui s’accompagne d’une augmentation des prêts bancaires et des entrées de capitaux – semble indiquer que les investisseurs reprennent confiance.