|
|
Ghana, the ninth worst economy?
E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Ghanadot
For what it is worth, Forbes magazine has ranked
Ghana as the ninth of the ten worst economies in the world. This
may be a hit job, but is it undeservingly so?
By 2008, the world was praising Ghana as a well run democracy, a
trend setter in good governance and one of the well managed
economies in Africa.
Before then, Ghana seemed at peace with the business world and
was a desired investor destination, thus entered the Kosmos oil
exploration. Some 16 months after 2008, we are now classified as
the ninth worst economy.
This is the perception of the Forbes on line piece, published on
June 9, 2010. It is a perception that should fill no Ghanaian
with joy, regardless of his or her ideology, because it has the
potential to limit our future growth.
But the question to ponder is, is the perception justified?
Under normal circumstances, and even if true, Ghana at the ninth
pole position of the world’s worst economies should not justify
the manner, the thrust and the weight put on her in the whole
piece. After all, she was said to be the ninth and not the first
on the list!
But, regardless of the answer, one would wish that the piece was
never written and posted.
Forbes stated that “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 $621, ranking it 154th out of 184
countries tracked by the International Monetary Fund, below
resource-impoverished Haiti.”
Below “resource-impoverished” earthquake devastated economy of
Haiti? Well, how low can you get, how fast, and by what
approach?
For Forbes, things happen when “governments discourage private
investment--and economic growth--through policies of crony
capitalism, expropriation or arbitrary enforcement of the
laws….”
For political expediency, Ghana unwittingly added to the
perception by declaring itself flat broke early 2009. Then
instead of fixing the supposedly broken economy, it went after
some within the business community. Particular forays were made
with investigations into the handling of the Vodafone deal,
followed by the obstruction of the Kosmos oil sale to
Exxon-Mobil, the oil giant.
Regardless of whatever justification the government of Ghana may
have, obstructions placed in the path of global companies, in
their pursuit for business in Ghana, or anywhere else in the
world, have their consequences.
Vodafone and Exxon-Mobil are western companies. They believe in
the power of public relation and the media. Not surprising, the
current Ghana government has socialist bias and do sometimes
practice bravado politics.
At the time of writing this piece, it is not known whether a
decision has been made by Ghana government to allow Kosmos to
sell her rights to Exxon-Mobil.
Worse, there is also the speculation that China's
state-controlled international oil company, CNOOC, is highly
interested in acquiring the rights to Kosmos’ oil find from the
government of Ghana. Consequently, China is suspected of
providing incentives and fueling adverse policies in Ghana to
prevent the sale to Exxon-Mobil.
Just how aggressive China has been in this pursuit is hard to
tell from outside. But, it should be observed that China has not
been shy in aggressive acquisitioning of oil stakes all over the
world, including Iraq and Sudan.
Noting that Kosmos is a US based company and CNOOC a Chinese, it
should not be hard to infer a Sino-American rivalry or a cold
trade war between the two. Unfortunately, Ghana has made itself
available as the ground for this cold war and its encumbering
consequences.
The Forbes piece may be an outcome of this war. It is Ghana’s
duty to ponder the consequences. As a fly on the butt of any of
these fat elephants, US and China, we are at a perilous risk. We
need to watch for the whisk of the tail.
E. Ablorh-Odjidja, Publisher www.ghanadot.com, Washington,
DC, June 10, 2010
Permission to publish: Please feel free to publish or reproduce,
with credits, unedited. If posted at a website, email a copy of
the web page to publisher@ghanadot.com . Or don't publish at
all.
Related article: Forbes - "The
World's
Worst
Economies"
|
