Barriers to Economic Development in Ghana
Economic development has to occur after a period of sustained economic growth. It is therefore the growth in total economic output accompanied by changes in the structure of the economy.
There are many barriers to economic development in Ghana. Eight of them are discussed below:
First and foremost, Ghana like most developing countries is enriched with natural resources or deposits but the human capital is not able to transform them to achieve rapid economic growth and development. For economic development to take off in any country, the human resource of the country should be in a position to harness the country’s endowed natural resources to fuel this economic development process. The skills and requisite know how that the human capital of the country requires to accelerate growth is not enough. The mining sector in Ghana suffers the problem of human capital. Most of the experts are foreigners and the remit their incomes back to their countries to the detriment of Ghana. If all the remuneration of these expatriate workers were given to the indigenous people the impart would be great on economic growth and development. The oil industry is another sector worth mentioning. The technical know how needed for exploration and drilling of the crude oil is lacking in the country. Foreign experts are therefore employed instead of the indigenous people. The chunk of the revenue realized from this sector moves out of the country thereby retarding the economic development of the country.
Another barrier to economic growth and development is low capital accumulation. According to the Ghana Statistical Service, it is only about 3% of the total population who save monies with the banks. This means about 97% of the total population keep their monies out of the banks. In a country where most of the money in the system are with individuals, the financial institutions find it difficult to get money to lend to people who need it for business purposes. The habit of keeping money at
There are many barriers to economic development in Ghana. Eight of them are discussed below:
First and foremost, Ghana like most developing countries is enriched with natural resources or deposits but the human capital is not able to transform them to achieve rapid economic growth and development. For economic development to take off in any country, the human resource of the country should be in a position to harness the country’s endowed natural resources to fuel this economic development process. The skills and requisite know how that the human capital of the country requires to accelerate growth is not enough. The mining sector in Ghana suffers the problem of human capital. Most of the experts are foreigners and the remit their incomes back to their countries to the detriment of Ghana. If all the remuneration of these expatriate workers were given to the indigenous people the impart would be great on economic growth and development. The oil industry is another sector worth mentioning. The technical know how needed for exploration and drilling of the crude oil is lacking in the country. Foreign experts are therefore employed instead of the indigenous people. The chunk of the revenue realized from this sector moves out of the country thereby retarding the economic development of the country.
Another barrier to economic growth and development is low capital accumulation. According to the Ghana Statistical Service, it is only about 3% of the total population who save monies with the banks. This means about 97% of the total population keep their monies out of the banks. In a country where most of the money in the system are with individuals, the financial institutions find it difficult to get money to lend to people who need it for business purposes. The habit of keeping money at