1. Republic of Ghana
Report by: Group 8

2. Background Information
• Ghana, a country on the West
Coast of Africa, has often
been referred to as an "island
of peace" in one of the most
chaotic regions on earth.
• Ghana in 1957 (March 6) became
the first sub-Saharan country
in colonial Africa to gain its
independence from the United
Kingdom.

4. Demography
• Location: It shares boundaries
with Togo to the east, la Cote
d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso
to the north and the Gulf of
Guinea, to the south.
• Area: 238,533 sq. km (92,100 sq.
mi.) land: 227,533 sq km water:
11,000 sq km
– Coastline: 539 km

6. Demography
• Climate: tropical; warm and
comparatively dry along southeast
coast; hot and humid in southwest;
hot and dry in north
• President: John Evans Atta Mills
• Official Language: English and
African
• Capital: Accra
• Etymology: Ghana means Warrior
King

7. Demography
• Population:
– 25,241,998
(2012 est.)
– 24,233,431
(2010 est.)
– 21,029,853
(2005 est.)
– 18,412,247
(2000 est.)
0
5000000
10000000
15000000
20000000
25000000
30000000
2000 2005 2010 2012
Population Census Estimate

8. Economy
• Ghana's economy has been
strengthened by a quarter century
of relatively sound management, a
competitive business environment,
and sustained reductions in
poverty levels.
• Gold, timber, and cocoa production
and individual remittances are
major sources of foreign exchange.

9. • Natural resources: gold, timber,
industrial diamonds, bauxite,
manganese, fish, rubber,
hydropower, petroleum, silver,
salt, and limestone.
• Oil production at Ghana's offshore
Jubilee field began in mid-
December, 2010, and is expected to
boost economic growth.
Economy

10. Economy
• Ghana opted for debt relief under the
Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC)
program in 2002, and is also benefiting
from the Multilateral Debt Relief
Initiative that took effect in 2006.
• In 2009 Ghana signed a three-year
Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
to improve macroeconomic stability,
private sector competitiveness, human
resource development, and good
governance and civic responsibility.

12. (1.00 GHS = 21.53 PHP)
Ghanaian Cedi

13. Economy
• Sound macro-economic
management along with
high prices for gold
and cocoa helped
sustain GDP growth in
2008-11.
• GDP (est.):
– $82.571 billion
(2012)
– $74.77 billion
(2011)
– $65.89 billion
(2010)
– $61.2 billion
(2009)
0
20,000,000
,000
40,000,000
,000
60,000,000
,000
80,000,000
,000
100,000,00
0,000
2009 2010 2011 2012
Gross Domestic Product

14. • Senior secondary
schools: 503
• Training
colleges: 21
• Technical
institutions: 18
• Diploma-awarding
institutions: 2
• Universities: 5
Education
•Primary schools:
12,130
•Junior secondary
schools: 5,450

15. Education
• Literacy Rate:
– 57.9% (2000 est.)
– 65%(2007 est.)
– 74.8% (2010 est.)
• School Life
Expectancy:
10 years
*Education is
mainly in
ENGLISH.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2000 2007 2010
Literacy Rate

16. Population Ageing
• There is
significance in the
phenomenal growth of
elderly populations
esp. in the rural
areas of Ghana.
• Elderly persons, age
60 years and above,
constitute about 7%
of the Ghana’s total
population.

17. Population Ageing
• Factors contributing to
its growth:
– Decline in infant and
maternal mortality
– Reductions in fertility
– Decreases in infectious
and parasitic diseases
– Improvements in
nutrition and education
– Impact of rural-to-
urban migration
– Death due to HIV/AIDS
of able-bodied young
people

18. Population Ageing
Because of modernization and
urbanization, the traditional
extended family system is
disintegrating, leaving the
elderly population with little
or no means of support and
care. As a result, Ghana’s
rapidly increasing number of
older citizens is like to
perpetuate poverty.

19. Discrimination Against
Women
Ghanaian women face institutional
discrimination in their attempts to
gain access to land and credit, despite
the fact that they constitute about 52%
of the agricultural work force and
produce about 70% of the total crop
output.

20. Current Environmental Issues
• recurrent drought in the north
severely affects agricultural
activities
• deforestation
• overgrazing
• soil erosion
• poaching and habitat destruction
threatens wildlife populations
• water pollution
• inadequate supplies of potable water

21. Health
• HIV/AIDS
– Adult prevalence rate: 1.8%
– People living with HIV/AIDS:
260,000
– Deaths: 18,000
• Note: Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian
influenza has also been identified
in this country

22. Health
• Life expectancy at birth: 62
years
• Infant mortality rate: 47/1000
live births
• Total fertility rate: 4
children/woman
• 10.6% of the country's GDP was
spent on health.

23. Health
• Major infectious diseases:
– degree of risk: very high
– food or waterborne diseases: bacterial
and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A,
and typhoid fever
– vectorborne diseases: malaria
– water contact disease: schistosomiasis
– respiratory disease: meningococcal
meningitis
– animal contact disease: rabies

24. Regional Inequality
• The trend towards poverty
reduction in most regions is not
replicated in the north.
• Factors that may have caused this
inequality are:
– Geographical aspects (rainfall,
ecology, and location)
– Historical origins (pre-colonial and
colonial)
• It remains massively disadvantaged
in terms of medical services.

25. Transnational Issues
• illicit producer of cannabis for the
international drug trade
• major transit hub for Southwest and
Southeast Asian heroin and, to a lesser
extent, South American cocaine destined
for Europe and the US
• widespread crime and money laundering
problem, but the lack of a well
developed financial infrastructure
limits the country's utility as a money
laundering center
• significant domestic cocaine and
cannabis use

26. ANALYSIS
According to my findings, the Republic of
Ghana developed sustainably and has been positively
leading among the rest of the other African nations
in terms of economy. Yet, there is still the threat
of poverty and corruption that if not addressed
would result to its instability. There are
definitely a lot of issues that still needs to be
addressed (discrimination, inequality, population
ageing, corruption…) for this country to fully
become developed.
Therefore, the relative peace Ghana has
enjoyed over the years should be guarded and
sustained for improved food security, rural
development and poverty reduction. The government of
the Republic of Ghana should keep its focus on the
upliftment of the general being of its citizens,
most especially its elderlies.

27. CONCLUSION
Therefore I conclude that
underdevelopment results from the
imbalance of the important aspects,
especially of a country. Economic
development alone does not guarantee
development. It does not get a person or a
country very far unless it is accompanied
by social, political, and moral
development.