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Databank says gloomy economic outlook have continued to weigh on Ghanaian equities as the Ghana Stock Exchange declined by 26.5 pe rcent year-on-year in the third quarter of this year. Alex Boahen, Head of Research at Databank joins CNBC Africa to look at the country’s equities market.

Databank: Gloomy outlook drag Ghana equities

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/divine-kwaku-ahadzie-797968">Divine Kwaku Ahadzie</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/kwame-nkrumah-university-of-science-and-technology-knust-3522">Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)</a> 

Over the past two decades, Ghana’s <a href="https://oxfordbusinessgroup.com/overview/forward-momentum-construction-sector-continues-be-major-engine-growth">construction sector</a> has both contributed to and benefited from a rapidly growing economy. The government is investing in rail, road and property projects across the country amid strong demand created by an expanding urban service economy. This is reflected in the increased spend in the 2019 <a href="https://www.pwc.com/gh/en/assets/pdf/2019-budget-highlights.pdf">budget</a>.

In 2016 and 2017, construction contributed 13.7% to GDP. It remains among the fastest growing of the 21 sub-sectors of the economy, according to Ghana Statistical Service <a href="http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/gssmain/storage/img/marqueeupdater/Annual_2013_2018_GDP_April%202019%20Edition.pdf">data</a> and it employs at least 3% of the <a href="http://www.statsghana.gov.gh/gssmain/storage/img/marqueeupdater/Annual_2013_2018_GDP_April%202019%20Edition.pdf">labour force</a>.

Ghana has joined the group of frontier <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/201812070220.html">emerging</a> markets. It is moving towards becoming an advanced economy characterised by political stability, rapid economic growth and industrialisation. But rapid urbanisation could also create slums if infrastructure does not keep pace.

<a href="https://webapps.knust.edu.gh/staff/dirsearch/profile/blog/8e18e316170b/From-Developing-to-an-Emerging-Economy-The-Stakes-for-the-Ghanaian-Construction-Industry.html">My research</a> looked into whether the construction industry has the policies and strategies it needs in place to continue supporting Ghana’s economic growth. I found that it needs to be structured and regulated to be more competitive. 

This is not happening as fast as it should.

<h2>Construction and economic growth</h2>

Frontier emerging economies are <a href="https://marketrealist.com/2014/09/characteristics-frontier-markets/">characterised</a> by relatively low per capita income, high unemployment and low activity in business and industry. Though Ghana has created a structural and economic environment that inspires some confidence in attracting <a href="https://www.gipcghana.com/press-and-media/680-ghana-attracts-over-us-3-5-bn-fdi-in-2018.html">global </a>investments, much still needs to be done and the political dispensation needs to remain stable. 

One theory is that construction industry activities are critical in driving faster development towards emerging economy status. Known as the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01446193.2011.578959">Bon Curve</a>, it suggests that, as a nation migrates from developing country status to an emerging economy, it must be fully prepared to tap into the increasing volumes of construction activities that are critical in driving the accelerated development expected.

A construction sector index developed by the academic Victor Osei shows that the industry in Ghana has improved significantly over the last two decades. Osei also <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/80e8/e45bcb8be45a2dc11520c013a1f5d5326b5f.pdf?_ga=2.238966596.531414011.1570391299-164945947.1570391299">demonstrated</a> that there has always been a positive relationship between construction activities and growth of the wider economy. 

In theory, the Ghanaian construction industry should be at the point of being able to propel that economic growth. It employs over 320,000 people and more than 2% of young people, as well as providing more training and apprenticeship opportunities to young people than any other <a href="http://www2.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/IBES_Questionnaires/IBES%201%20reports/NATIONAL%20EMPLOYMENT%20REPORT_FINAL%20%2024-5-16.pdf">sector</a>. This can only happen if appropriate strategic action plans are put in place. These include efforts to integrate the informal sector. 

Industry players have <a href="https://thebftonline.com/2018/business/companies/construction-industry-development-authority-a-priority-for-us-contractors/">called</a> for an industry development agenda which would provide an overall structure and direction. Efforts have been made towards drafting a construction industry development authority bill. 

Progress however has been slow. One reason is the lack of a unified construction industry body to lobby the government to pass the bill. Attempts to bring various professional bodies together have been met with apathy. Civil engineers, planners, architects, surveyors involved in the sector are instead on entrenching their positions within the sector. 

The industry bodies are also generally uncompetitive. This is because they have remained traditional. They have failed to transform current economic demand into an opportunity to compete with international players and to access new markets in, for instance, the sub-region. 

<h2>Informal and wasteful</h2>

This is consequent on the lack of deliberate policy direction in raising first-class contractors to be global competitors. Because of the transient nature of activities in the sector and its ability to absorb relatively large numbers of unskilled workers, the sector is also heavily informal. 

Above all, it appears that the political elite are using the industry to <a href="https://www.myjoyonline.com/opinion/2019/July-16th/infrastructure-development-in-ghana-wealth-creation-or-wealth-consumption.php">consume</a> wealth. This happens when projects are discontinued upon a change of government or completely abandoned. This leads to locked-up capital in several abandoned projects. 

Even though the constitution of Ghana mandates succeeding governments to continue projects started by their predecessors, it rarely happens. Completed projects that have turned into white elephants are <a href="https://citinewsroom.com/2019/02/govt-misses-deadlines-for-completion-of-abandoned-hospitals/">constantly in the news</a> and the political class plays the blame game. 

There are lessons to be learnt from emerging economies such as China, Brazil, South Africa and India, whose contractors are beginning to influence the international market. They all have an apex body regulating and providing a deliberate construction industry development agenda. They have taken steps to enhance productivity and efficiency; set performance standards and integrate new technologies for efficiency. They have also improved occupational safety, health and environmental practices. They encourage technology transfer including export of construction products. 

The global construction space is becoming more technologically advanced. Ghana cannot afford to remain stagnant and uncompetitive. There have been several <a href="https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/establish-regulatory-body-for-construction-industry-govt-urged.html">calls</a> for government policies to support better project management practices. 

The starting point would be to pass the construction bill into law. That would provide space to pursue the construction industry developmental agenda, in tandem with Ghana’s quest to become a firmly rooted middle income economy.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124733/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important">

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/divine-kwaku-ahadzie-797968">Divine Kwaku Ahadzie</a>, Associate Professor of Competencies/Skills Development in Housing and Construction, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/kwame-nkrumah-university-of-science-and-technology-knust-3522">Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghanas-construction-industry-is-lively-but-needs-regulation-124733">original article</a>.

Ghana’s construction industry is lively but it cannot afford to remain stagnant and uncompetitive

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it expects Ghana&#8217;s economy to grow by 7.5 this year and drop to 5.6 per cent by 2020. Dean of School of Business at University of Cape Coast, John Gatsi joins CNBC Africa to discuss IMF&#8217;s projections for the country.

IMF projects Ghana’s economy to grow 7.5% in 2019

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Nigeria and Cameroon are planning to agree on a premium for their cocoa. That&#8217;s according to the Vice President of World Cocoa Producers Organisation, Sayina Riman. Fellow West African cocoa producers, Ghana and Ivory Coast had already set a floor price for the crop at $2,600 per tonne. To discuss what this move will mean for the region and Nigeria’s cocoa industry, Executive Director of FTN Cocoa Processors, Akin Laoye joins CNBC Africa.

Nigeria, Cameroon to agree on cocoa premium: What will this mean for Nigeria’s cocoa industry?

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-e-odijie-828090">Michael E Odijie</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cambridge-1283">University of Cambridge</a>

The chocolate <a href="https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/chocolate-market">industry</a> is worth more than $80 billion a year. But some cocoa farmers in parts of West Africa are poorer now than they were in the 1970s or 1980s. In other areas, artificial support for cocoa farming is creating a debt problem. Farmers are also still under pressure to supply markets in wealthy countries instead of securing their own future. 

In <a href="https://www.academia.edu/36081141/Sustainability_winners_and_losers_in_business-_biased_cocoa_sustainability_programmes_in_West_Africa">research</a> published last year I explored sustainability programmes designed to support cocoa farming in West Africa. My aim was to identify winners and losers.

I looked at initiatives such as <a href="https://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/about-wcf/cocoaaction/">CocoaAction</a>, a $500 million <a href="https://www.academia.edu/36081141/Sustainability_winners_and_losers_in_business-_biased_cocoa_sustainability_programmes_in_West_Africa">“sustainability scheme”</a> launched in 2014, and concluded that they were done in the interests of large multinationals. They did not necessarily relieve poverty or develop the region’s economies. In fact they created new problems. 

To sustain their livelihoods, the cocoa farmers of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana need to diversify away from cocoa production. But multinational chocolate companies need farmers to keep producing cocoa. 

<h2>Diversification</h2>

Farmers choose to diversify their crops for a host of reasons. These include a reduction in the resources they need to produce a crop (such as suitable land), and a reduction in the price they can get for the crop.

Cocoa farming requires tropical forestland. This is limited; it is not possible to keep expanding to new land to keep producing cocoa. So when the land is exhausted, farmers would benefit from diversifying to products like rubber and palm oil. They do not need to grow cocoa for its own sake.

A great deal of diversification occurred <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13504509.2019.1641763?casa_token=SEeqiEebBHIAAAAA:YtWBLoutBFu_HLn6m1HeAo6L07Vd-knX1GE7PivCGXZAlTvgWZlF_idDLuqj1VbdmR-2DaVISHTCQfw">during the cocoa crisis</a> of the 1970s in Ghana. Cereal output increased from 388,000 tonnes in 1964/1965 to over 1 million tonnes in 1983/83, and decreased when cocoa was <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/AFRICAEXT/Resources/258643-1271798012256/Ghana-cocoa.pdf">“revitalised”</a>. The same was the case with coconut, palm oil and groundnut.

But such diversification is more recently being prevented by multinationals and other stakeholders who want cocoa cultivation to continue. Multinationals that depend on cocoa as a raw material openly (and rightly) regard diversification as a risk to their business. So they keep spending on cocoa farming inputs. 

<h2>Why there’s a limit to cocoa</h2>

In West Africa, cocoa has historically been cultivated using slash and burn farming. Forest was cut down and burned before planting, and then, when the plot became infertile, the farmer moved to fresh forestland and did the same again. 

The new land offered fertile soil, a favourable microclimate and fewer pests and diseases. Growing the cocoa took less labour and yielded more.

This explains the link between cocoa farming and deforestation in Côte d&#8217;Ivoire and Ghana. A recent <a href="http://www.mightyearth.org/an-open-secret-illegal-ivorian-cocoa/">investigation</a> showed that since 2000, Ivorian cocoa has been dependent on protected areas. Almost half of Mont Peko National Park, for example, which is home to endangered species, as well as Marahoue National Park has been lost to cocoa planting since 2000.

In Côte d’Ivoire, the area covered by forest <a href="http://www.mightyearth.org/an-open-secret-illegal-ivorian-cocoa/">decreased</a> from 16 million hectares – roughly half of the country – in 1960 to less than 2 million hectares in 2005. 

Forestland is finite. Slash and burn is no longer an option, because so much of the forest is gone. In West Africa, planters are now staying on the same piece of land and reworking it.

This has created its own set of <a href="https://www.academia.edu/36081141/Sustainability_winners_and_losers_in_business-_biased_cocoa_sustainability_programmes_in_West_Africa">problems</a>.

<h2>Rising costs and threats</h2>

In both Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, several <a href="https://www.academia.edu/36081141/Sustainability_winners_and_losers_in_business-_biased_cocoa_sustainability_programmes_in_West_Africa">estimates</a> of the cost of maintaining a cocoa farm show that the investment costs required for replanting have approximately doubled. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Goetz_Schroth2/publication/261713726_Chocolate_forests_and_monocultures_-_an_historical_review_of_cocoa_growing_and_its_conflicting_role_in_tropical_deforestation_and_forest_conservation/links/00b49535482f8bcb1d000000/Chocolate-forests-and-monocultures-an-historical-review-of-cocoa-growing-and-its-conflicting-role-in-tropical-deforestation-and-forest-conservation.pdf">One estimate</a> of labour investment put the replanting effort at 260 days per hectare, compared with 74 days per hectare for planting using slash and burn. 

The extra labour needed for sedentary cultivation is leading to <a href="https://ilpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/20151126-Child-labour-in-the-West-African-Cocoa-Sector-ILPI.pdf">child trafficking</a> and child labour in cocoa cultivation. Child trafficking generally occurs when planters are searching for cheaper sources of labour for replanting. 

Planters who have successfully diversified into other crops have stopped using child labour. In the cocoa industry, however, the use of child labour is increasing. For example, the number of <a href="https://ilpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/20151126-Child-labour-in-the-West-African-Cocoa-Sector-ILPI.pdf">child labourers</a> in the Ivorian cocoa industry increased by almost 400,000 between 2008 and 2013. 

There has also been a massive increase in the use of fertilisers and pesticides to aid cocoa production without slash and burn. 

The increased input (labour, fertilisers and pesticides) for replanting land amounts to a higher production cost. It cannot be adjusted by price setting. Cocoa producers have no control over price; they are price takers. So the higher production cost reduces the profit made by cocoa farmers. 

This explains why cocoa producers in Côte d’Ivoire are <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/542291468243910934/pdf/PAD5080PAD0IDA00Box377382B00PUBLIC0.pdf">poorer now </a> than they were decades ago.

In Ghana, the government, through the cocoa marketing board, <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/I8329EN/i8329en.pdf">COCOBOD</a>, has managed the transition from slash and burn to sedentary farming. The government created a mass spraying programme to control diseases and pests. It also subsidised fertiliser and created a pricing policy that has sometimes amounted to a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a06abe2a-c1ab-11e8-84cd-9e601db069b8">government subsidy</a> this links need users to subscribe. Due to the extra free input provided by the government, sometimes supported by NGOs and multinational corporations, farmers have not become poorer in Ghana. But the approach has led to <a href="https://goldstreetbusiness.com/general-news/cocobod-looking-to-refinance-ghc6-bn-debt/">huge debt for COCOBOD</a>. For example, COCOBOD incurred GHc2 billion (US$367 million) debt for subsidising the price of cocoa <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/COCOBOD-incurred-GHC2-billion-debt-in-2017-for-cocoa-price-subsidy-689641#">for the year 2017</a>.

Although cocoa planters are faring well in Ghana, it is not clear that Ghana’s cocoa sector is really a success story. The shift to debt financing has artificially produced <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/AFRICAEXT/Resources/258643-1271798012256/Ghana-cocoa.pdf">the success</a>.

<h2>The way forward</h2>

Cocoa “sustainability” activities are not the way forward. Cocoa sustainability is a new form of colonisation in Africa, because its real goal is to prevent African planters from diversifying away from cocoa into other crops. These programmes keep the cocoa industry going under deteriorating conditions. 

The way forward is to switch from cocoa to crops that do not require forestland (new or exhausted), extra fertilisers or more labour. 

<a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-7294-5_2">Research</a> has shown that cocoa planters in Côte d’Ivoire who have diversified into other crops, such as rubber, have succeeded in escaping poverty. 

But that is seen as a major threat to the supply of raw material to Western multinationals. One representative of a large chocolate multinational explained “<a href="https://www.academia.edu/36081141/Sustainability_winners_and_losers_in_business-_biased_cocoa_sustainability_programmes_in_West_Africa">my enemy is not my competitor in the purchase of cocoa, but the rubber industry</a>.” 

In conclusion, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire have to think about what is best for them instead of what is best for the chocolate industry and consumers in the developed world.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124761/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-e-odijie-828090">Michael E Odijie</a>, Post Doctoral Researcher, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cambridge-1283">University of Cambridge</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghanas-cocoa-farmers-are-trapped-by-the-chocolate-industry-124761">original article</a>.

Here are three reasons why Ghana’s cocoa farmers are trapped by the chocolate industry

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Ghana and Zambia, countries that have previously seen as pillars of stability and good governess have had a decline in the Africa Risk reward index for 2019. The index looks at the evolution of the investment landscape in major Africa markets and is compiled by Control Risks and Oxford Economics. Barnaby Fletcher, Associate Director Analyst at Control Risks joins CNBC Africa for more.

Africa Risk-Reward Index: Tracking the investment landscape across major African markets

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The Bank of Ghana&#8217;s Monetary Policy Committee kept its Monetary Policy Rate unchanged at 16 per cent at its September meeting. To discuss the implications for Ghana&#8217;s economy going forward, Collins Appiah, Economic Advisor at Services and Integrity Savings and Loans joins CNBC Africa for more.

Bank of Ghana retains its 16% MPR: What are the economic implications thereof?

LISBON (Reuters) &#8211; Ghana, the world’s second largest cocoa producer, is expected to produce 850,000 tonnes of cocoa in 2019/20 season, at the lower end of average levels on account of the swollen shoot disease outbreak, the country’s industry regulator said on Thursday.



Ghana’s annual cocoa production is usually between 850,000 and 900,000 tonnes, though the country had an official forecast of 900,000 tonnes for the current 2018/19 season, which ends this month.



“Swollen shoot is the main factor bringing down production,” Joseph Boahen Aidoo, chief executive of the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), an industry regulator, told Reuters on the sidelines of the European Cocoa Forum in Lisbon.



Aidoo also said Ghana would announce the official farmgate price for the 2019/20 season on Oct. 1. The farmgate price is a fixed annual price set and paid by the government to farmers each season.



Ghana’s cocoa output is expected to fall to 830,000 tonnes in the 2018/19 season, which ends this month, on account of unfavourable weather and swollen shoot disease, according to the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO).



Ghana’s fight against the disease has prompted Cocobod to replant of 400,000 hectares of cocoa plants. It will take at least three to five years for the replanted surfaces to come into production.



Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Tom Brown

Ghana expected to produce 850,000 tonnes of cocoa in 2019/20 season, at the lower end of average levels…Here’s why

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Oil Marketing Companies in Ghana have begun applying the revised energy sector levies which has seen an upward adjustment in both diesel and fuel prices. The move follows a directive from Ghana’s National Petroleum Authority (NPA). To discuss this story and its impact, Paa Kwasi Anamua Sakyi, Executive Director at the Institute for Energy Security joins CNBC Africa for more.

NPA orders oil marketing companies to apply revised energy sector levies

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Chapel Hill Denham says valuations of Nigerian stocks are cheap, presenting bargain hunting opportunities for investors. The investment firm also expects the current bearish sentiment in Ghana’s equities market to persist over ongoing reforms in the financial services sector. Omotola Abimbola, Macro and Fixed Income Analyst at Chapel Hill Denham joins CNBC Africa for more.

Markets largely influenced by trade conflict: A focus on West-African markets

ASSIN MANSO, GHANA (Reuters) &#8211; In a clearing at the turnoff to Assin Manso, a billboard depicts two African slaves in loincloths, their arms and legs in chains. Beside them are the words, “Never Again!”



This is “slave river,” where captured Ghanaians submitted to a final bath before being shipped across the Atlantic into slavery centuries ago, never to return to the land of their birth. Today, it is a place of somber homecoming for the descendants of those who spent their lives as someone else’s property.



The popularity of the site has swelled this year, 400 years after the trade in Africans to the English colonies of America began. This month’s anniversary of the first Africans to arrive in Virginia has caused a rush of interest in ancestral tourism, with people from the United States, the Caribbean and Europe seeking out their roots in West Africa.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“Ten years ago, no one went to the slave river, but this year has been massive,” said Awuracy Butler, who runs a company called Butler Tours.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She said business has nearly doubled this year, which has been touted as the Year of Return for the African diaspora tracing their family history. The number of tourists has forced her to hire more vehicles, she said.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“Everyone wants to add the slave river to their tour,” she said. The coastal forts where they spent their last days in Ghana in suffocating conditions are also increasingly popular, she said.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The increase in tourism has been an economic boon for Ghana, which unlike other West African countries has aggressively marketed its “heritage” offerings for the anniversary.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Officials see it as an opportunity to entice some much-needed foreign investment into the economy, dogged in recent years by high inflation and public debt that has needed an International Monetary Fund lending program to fix.



The Ghana Tourism Authority expects 500,000 visitors this year, up from 350,000 in 2018. Of those, 45,000 are estimated to be seeking their ancestral roots, a 42% increase from last year.



On a recent day in the capital, Accra, a delegation of tribal elders and a representative of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre welcomed a tour group at a hotel in the city.



At an event in a low-ceilinged hotel conference room, the tour guide encouraged the visitors to sing a hymn in a local language, gently chiding them for not yet knowing the tune. “You are Ghanaians now,” he said.



Members of the group, who were mostly African American, went up to the front one by one to pose with a smiling tourism ministry official or one of the robe-clad elders as they received an official certificate of participation. The investment representative launched into a lengthy power-point presentation focused on the need for investment in Ghana’s cocoa sector and the minimum capital requirements for joint ventures.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With an average spend of $1,850 per tourist, the tourism authority expects this year’s revenues to top $925 million, a 50% increase from 2018, which it hopes to sustain over the next three years at least.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The amount is dwarfed by Ghana’s $2-billion cocoa industry but is considered essential in a country of 28 million people who mostly live in poverty.



Anthony Bouadi, a tour guide at Cape Coast Castle, a fortress where the captives were kept until they were sent on ships over the Atlantic, said he believes the site will change the lives of those who visit.



“The moment you get to know your history, it is going to change you,” he said. “We are encouraging our brothers and sisters from the U.S., from the Caribbean from Europe to come back to their Motherland Africa to get to know the culture … and whatever the ancestors went through.”



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The surge of visitors is part of a global phenomenon: Airbnb data shows a five-fold increase in people travelling to places connected to their ancestry worldwide since 2014.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;U.S. genetics company African Ancestry says its sales of DNA tests tripled after last year’s release of the superhero film “Black Panther,” an Afro-centric blockbuster with a predominantly black cast. The company is launching an ancestry-based travel service later this year.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;To make the most of the moment, Ghana will host a mass “ancestry reveal” on Friday. More than 80 African American participants, including the head of the NAACP, will learn their genetic history, touted as the largest ceremony of its kind in Africa’s history.



Ghana has long encouraged its diaspora to return and has strong links with the African American community. Malcolm X visited in the 1960s and spent time with the American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, who lived there at the time.&nbsp;The prominent black writer and activist W.E.B. Du Bois settled and died in Ghana. Since, many other ordinary African American families have returned.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But questions remain about whether the heightened interest in Ghana can be sustained after the anniversary. Bad roads, a cumbersome visa application process and expensive flights could stem the number of visitors in the long term.&nbsp;



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“The government has a huge responsibility,” said Peter Appiah, head of research and publicity at the Centre for National Culture in Kumasi, Ghana’s second-largest city.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“If we want to sustain this tempo,” he said, “then we need to do a lot more in terms of social infrastructure.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;MASSIVE YEAR</h3>



At Assin Manso, a group of visitors removed their shoes and walked barefoot down a path to the muddy river that runs through a bamboo grove.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Together they placed their hands in the water, then waded in to offer prayers in thanks for the opportunity to return.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “I can’t even get my head around people coming from a land like this and being snatched,” said Miriam Allen, a 62-year-old retired urban planner from New York, clutching a box of tissues and choking back tears.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“This is a good place and a bad place. A good place to know your ancestors, but to know what those white people did to us. I can’t …” she said, breaking off.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On most tours, Assin Manso marks one of the final stops on a country-wide swing in which groups take part in Ashanti rituals, meet local chiefs and trace the gruelling route captured slaves took from the country’s northern hinterland out to the coast.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The forts that still dot Ghana’s coast are a reminder of what slaves endured.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;At the Cape Coast Castle, rusted old cannons point out to sea from the ramparts, angled skyward, away from locals playing football on the beach below.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The government is committed to its upkeep &#8211; on a recent visit, workers were repainting the high white walls.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In forts like this one, slaves experienced their last days on African soil crammed in steaming-hot dungeons without light &#8211; and where tourists are now returning in droves.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;“I have seen a lot of people &#8211; they really are coming,” said Bouadi, the guide at the castle, who now does up to six tours a day compared with three last year. Each tour has doubled in size, he said, to around 40 people.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He tries to help his family when he can, using the extra money he earns to pay their water and electricity bills.



“Tourism organisations in Ghana are having to hire more people,” he said. “If people earn more, they can pay for school fees; it boosts the local economy and reduces poverty.”



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ghana’s efforts stand in stark contrast to other West African countries with rich histories of their own that are little known outside the continent.



&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Despite a collection of slave sites, including the picturesque but haunting Goree Island, where tourists can visit old slave quarters and its “door of no return,” Senegal does not appear to have harnessed the potential like Ghana. Neither has Benin or Nigeria.



In Nigeria, the main sites commemorating the slave trade are three small museums along a road in the coastal town of Badagry. Artefacts including chains used to shackle slaves are spread across the museums, two of which are small single-story buildings with corrugated iron roofs.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Foreign tourists are rare at the site, and a large proportion of visitors are schoolchildren on tours. The poor state of local roads, dotted with potholes, make it hard to visit Badagry: The 65-kilometer (40-mile) journey from the country’s largest city, Lagos, takes around three hours.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; “As far as I know, only Ghana has made such a significant effort in terms of programmes and activities,” said Shanelle Haile, a doctoral student at Brown University in Rhode Island who was in Ghana to study diaspora engagement surrounding the anniversary.



&nbsp;“Now that we’re here and we’ve done the events and the activities, it’s really moving and it’s a powerful experience,” she said. “I just hope that more African Americans learn and hear about it.”



Additional reporting by Edward McAllister in Dakar; Christian Akorlie in Accra; and Afolabi Sotunde in Badagry, Nigeria.; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Alexandra Zavis and Kari Howard

How Ghana is cashing in on slave heritage tourism

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Adda. To discuss this and other stories around the sector, he joins CNBC Africa
for more.

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By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jacob-nyarko-783517">Jacob Nyarko</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-coast-2766">University of Cape Coast</a>

Between 1957 – the year Ghana won independence from British – and 1992 the country had <a href="http://ccms.ukzn.ac.za/Libraries/staff-documents/Thesis_Examination_Update_1_1.sflb.ashx">three civilian heads of state</a> interspersed with several military rulers. But that year it finally embraced democratic rule and adopted a constitution.

One of the areas of protection the new constitution offered was the independence of the media and of expression. But are these enforced? And has the media felt their positive impact? 

In my PhD <a href="http://ccms.ukzn.ac.za/Libraries/staff-documents/Thesis_Examination_Update_1_1.sflb.ashx">thesis</a> published four years ago I explored whether <a href="http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha129754.pdf">Ghana’s constitution </a> had lived up to the promise set out in Chapter 12, Articles 162 and 163 in relation to media freedom. I concluded that though the Ghanaian Constitution had made some positive impacts, there were still some shortfalls. These included the media’s lack of a right to information. 

I also observed that archaic laws still existed in the statute books and that the courts were imposing huge court fines which were crippling media outlets.

Two years ago <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">I published a study</a> that showed that the constitution had indeed marked a turning point for media liberalisation. It led to increased private ownership participation and broke the “culture of silence” around particular subjects. 

The issue of media freedom, and the ability of journalists to be able to do their jobs without fear, has been in the headlines again recently following the arrest of two <a href="https://cpj.org/2019/07/two-ghanaian-journalists-arrested-on-cybercrime-ch.php">journalists</a> by members of the national security forces. Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri and Emmanuel Britwum, who work for ModernGhana, were accused of hacking competitor emails as well as writing articles deemed offensive to the minister of national security. 

Kwaku Addi, the Publisher of private newspaper, TodayGhanaNews recently expressed <a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/942091/arrest-of-modernghana-journalist-is-an-attack-on-ghanaian-jo.html">concern </a> about recent attacks – including this one – on the media. He listed the fact that journalists had been <a href="https://www.myjoyonline.com/news/2018/december-31st/ghana-shamefully-recorded-31-media-assaults-in-2018-updn.php">assaulted</a>, <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/201504170406.html">kidnapped</a>, <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/17-journalists-attacked-in-15-months-The-sad-story-on-safety-of-journalists-in-Ghana-642221">beaten</a> and lynched. He also mentioned the fact that many media houses had been <a href="https://www.nca.org.gh/media-and-news/news/update-on-ncas-enforcement-action-on-fm-radio-stations-operating-with-expired-frequency-authorisations/">closed down</a> . He wrote: 

<blockquote>
135 critical media houses have been closed down, including Radio Gold and Radio XZY, two journalists killed (Ahmed Suale and a lady in Ahafo Region), one investigative journalist (Manasseh Azzure Awuni) has been forced into exile, and one reporter in Upper West region (Emmanuel Adati) is in hiding to save his life.
</blockquote>

These trends show that the 1992 constitution had good intentions. Yet the state continues to capitalise on what it calls the “<a href="https://rsf.org/en/news/rsf-calls-probe-ghanaian-website-journalists-torture-claims">national interest</a>” and “national security” to justify taking steps that amount to suppression of the media. 

<h2>The Constitution</h2>

Prior to the passing of the <a href="http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha129754.pdf">1992 constitution</a> none of the country’s laws guaranteed media freedom in such extensive terms. This freedom covers all Ghanaian and gives the legal basis to challenge efforts to curtail media freedom. The constitution <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">also led to dramatic changes in</a> the landscape. 

Prior to its passing, Ghana media had been dominated by well-established state-owned media houses. The constitution enabled growth in the private media sector as the newspaper licensing law was repealed, opening up the newspaper space. <a href="https://philipatawura.wordpress.com/2017/05/02/broadcasting-in-ghana/">Private radio stations</a> and television stations also sprung up. This in turn opened the door to much more critical coverage and debates. 

The private media sector gradually began to make its presence felt. 

Local radio stations and newspapers with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">national coverage</a> rapidly sprang up and were accessible to almost every district of Ghana. This meant that front-page news exposing corruption in Ghana became common. And journalists began to ensure that the public was fed information about government, businesses and other state interests in a way that opened these sectors to scrutiny.

The phasing out of government monopolies ushered in a new era of free expression. Ghana’s informal environment began to expand due to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">press liberalisation</a> in ways that previously were unimaginable. 

These developments confirm the assertion that a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311983.2018.1455625">symbiotic relationship</a> between media freedom and democratisation does exist. 

But the paradox of the country’s constitution is that Ghana continues to have laws that can be used to curtain media freedom. One example was the <a href="https://ifex.org/criminal-libel-law-repealed/">Criminal Libel Law</a> which remained in place for nine years before its abrogation after fierce protests. 

A another example is that it took until this year for the country to pass a <a href="http://ghana.gov.gh/index.php/media-center/news/5641-president-gives-accent-to-law-on-right-to-information">right to information law </a>. This will only come into effect in 2020. 

This goes to show that media freedom was granted with unwilling undertones. 

Other <a href="http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/gha129754.pdf">archaic laws</a> remain on the statute books. These include the Official Secrets Acts, Emergency Powers Acts 472 and the Criminal Code 1960. These laws allow the judiciary and other state agencies – like the police – to hinder a true expression of press freedom. 

Another thorny and unresolved issue is the role of <a href="http://laws.ghanalegal.com/acts/id/182/national-media-commission-act">National Media Commission</a>. One of its functions is to promote and ensure the freedom and independence of the media. Even though it’s existed since 1993, it has been <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/National-Media-Commission-too-timid-tame-and-weak-Ablakwa-619670">incapacitated</a> by a weak enforcement framework.

This leaves open the question of who fights for the fourth estate in Ghana.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120738/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important">

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jacob-nyarko-783517">Jacob Nyarko</a>, Lecturer of Communication Studies, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-coast-2766">University of Cape Coast</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghanas-constitution-is-meant-to-protect-the-media-but-does-it-120738">original article</a>.

Does Ghana’s constitution protect the media?

<figure>
 <img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284468/original/file-20190717-147312-1hupjju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip">
 <figcaption>
 Parliament House of Ghana.
 Shutterstock
 </figcaption>
 </figure>

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/adu-owusu-sarkodie-774216">Adu Owusu Sarkodie</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-ghana-1965">University of Ghana</a>

Ghana has been <a href="http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/news/5798-ghana-chosen-to-host-african-continental-free-trade-area-secretariat">chosen</a> by the African Union (AU) to host the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area. It beat other competing countries including Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar and Senegal to win the bid. 

As a free trade area, member countries have come together and agreed not to impose tariffs, quotas and other trade barriers on goods and services. The agreement is expected to enlarge markets and diversify exports, particularly manufactured goods. According to US-based think tank the <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2019/05/30/figures-of-the-week-with-afcfta-officially-in-force-africa-is-now-the-largest-free-trade-area/">Brookings Institute</a>, intra-African trade stands at about 14%, while the share of manufactured goods to the rest of the world stands at 18%. Trade among Asian countries is much higher – at 59% – and even higher among European countries at 69%. The hope is that the African free trade area will boost trade across the continent by 52% <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/36085-doc-qa_cfta_en_rev15march.pdf">by 2022 </a>.

The core mandate of the secretariat will be to implement the free trade agreement, which has been <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/36085-doc-qa_cfta_en_rev15march.pdf">ratified</a> by 25 out of 54 countries. Once all have ratified the deal, it will create the world’s largest free trade area since the formation of the World Trade Organisation in 1995.

Africa’s free trade area will cover a market of 1.2 billion people with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/36085-doc-qa_cfta_en_rev15march.pdf">US$2.5 trillion</a>.

The secretariat’s job will be to recruit personnel, train them, and develop organisational capability. The secretariat will also have to implement policies handed down by the governing body, keep the media informed, organise conferences and identify potential funding sources. It will also monitor and evaluate the progress of policies and programmes.

This is a first for Ghana which has not hosted a continental secretariat. The hope is that it can emulate the <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/why-the-african-union-needs-a-stable-ethiopia">success</a> of other African capitals that have befitted from hosting the AU and the United Nations. Addis Ababa is home to the AU headquarters while Nairobi hosts two of the UN’s biggest bodies. For its part, South Africa hosts the Pan-African Parliament. 

The presence of the AU in Addis Ababa has been <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/why-the-african-union-needs-a-stable-ethiopia">credited</a> with an increase in property valuations as well as job creation.

In making its bid, Ghana took advantage of its strategic geographical location in West Africa. It has put a great deal of effort into making the country a gateway and a trade hub in West Africa. 

Hosting the free trade area secretariat will come with costs and benefits &#8211; direct and indirect. 

<h2>Why Ghana</h2>

In establishing its credentials to host the secretariat, the Ghanaian government would have set out the country’s most notable achievements.

These would have included the fact that it’s been an exemplary member of the AU. For example, in 2007 it was among the first countries to be reviewed by the <a href="https://au.int/en/organs/aprm">African Peer Review Mechanism</a> – the self-assessment mechanism used to measure <a href="https://www.die-gdi.de/en/studies/article/the-african-peer-review-mechanism-aprm-as-a-tool-to-improve-governance-experience-in-ghana/">good governance</a>.

The fact that it put its hand up sent a signal to other countries that the peer review process was credible.

Other factors that would have played in Ghana’s favour are that the country’s economy has been showing strong growth.

It is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with an <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-17/ghana-economic-growth-slows-in-2018-as-oil-expansion-cools">average</a> GDP growth of about 6%. In addition, it comes second to Cape Verde in West Africa in terms of the United Nations Human Development <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/GHA">index</a>. 

In one of the most unstable sub regions in the world, Ghana also has a tradition of relative peace and security, a key parameter for hosting a secretariat. 

In addition, Ghana has had the advantage of learning about trade collaboration through its membership of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).

<h2>Costs and benefits</h2>

Ghana has been part of the <a href="https://www.ecowas.int/member-states/">15-member</a> Ecowas since its formation in 1990. The regional body introduced a common external tariff in <a href="https://www.ecowas.int/ecowas-cet-will-be-implemented-as-of-january-2015/">2015</a> . 

While Ghana has enjoyed <a href="https://unctad.org/en/PublicationsLibrary/ditctab2018d1_en.pdf">benefits</a> from the arrangement, like many other West African States, it has not been able to harness its full potential. For example, border controls remain cumbersome, delaying transits due to the numerous check points, huge unofficial payments at the <a href="https://www.uneca.org/publications/assessing-regional-integration-africa-aria-ix">borders</a>. 

The most direct cost to the country will be the $10 million <a href="http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/news/5798-ghana-chosen-to-host-african-continental-free-trade-area-secretariat">pledged</a> by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to support setting up the secretariat. The AU is also expected to contribute funds and appeals have been made to international funding agencies.

Ghana’s hope is that hosting the secretariat will boost the hospitality sector – and more broadly the services sector – and generate increased international exposure. 

There should also be a boost for job creation as the secretariat hires staff; ranging from economists to translators, administrators and technicians.

There is no clear deadline on when the secretariat is expected to be up and running. The AU itself still has to clear a number of <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/36085-doc-qa_cfta_en_rev15march.pdf">hurdles,</a>, including adopting a structure, staff rules and regulations, and the secretariat’s budget.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120386/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important">

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/adu-owusu-sarkodie-774216">Adu Owusu Sarkodie</a>, Doctor of Economics, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-ghana-1965">University of Ghana</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghana-hopes-to-benefit-from-hosting-africas-free-trade-area-secretariat-120386">original article</a>.

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Databank: Gloomy outlook drag Ghana equities

Ghana’s construction industry is lively but it cannot afford to remain stagnant and uncompetitive

IMF projects Ghana’s economy to grow 7.5% in 2019

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How Ghana is cashing in on slave heritage tourism

How global trade tensions are impacting Ghana’s economy

How can Africa harness cultural heritage for development?

Ghana seeks to become West Africa’s aviation hub with launch of home-based carrier

Ghana FinMin: Energy sector debt a risk to economy

Does Ghana’s constitution protect the media?

Here’s what Ghana hopes to benefit from hosting Africa’s free trade area secretariat

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