• GDP: US$7.5 billion (2003).
• Main exports: Gold, cocoa, timber, tuna, bauxite, aluminium, manganese ore and diamonds.
• Main imports: Capital equipment, petroleum and foodstuffs.
• Main trade partners: Mexico, Nigeria, China, UK, USA, France and The Netherlands. Agriculture occupies most of the working population, producing both subsistence and cash crops. The most important of the latter is cocoa, of which Ghana is one of the world’s major producers. Coffee and various fruit are the other main crops. Fishing has grown in importance since the acquisition of modern vessels. The country’s main industry is mining, particularly for diamonds and gold (produced at the famous Ashanti gold field), and this is both a major employer and an important foreign currency earner. Although recent mineral exploration failed to discover anticipated oil and gas deposits, new bauxite and manganese deposits have been identified. Manufacturing is concentrated in food processing, textiles, vehicles and chemicals. The country’s energy needs are met by hydroelectric projects; these produce a surplus which Ghana sells to its neighbours. As a primary commodity producer, Ghana has suffered from consistently low-world prices for its main products throughout much of the last 20 years. Since the late 1980s, Ghana has been something of a laboratory for a new regime for less developed countries devised by the International Monetary Fund and known as a Structural Adjustment programme. Customised for each state, the IMF, in conjunction with the World Bank, offers steady financial support to the national exchequer in exchange for government undertakings to implement agreed economic policies. The latter are based on liberalisation of the economy, the removal of trade barriers, privatisation of state-owned assets and firm budgetary control (leading invariably to cuts in social and welfare spending). The Government is now aiming to improve social services to its citizens. Despite the notable lack of tangible benefits to the population as a whole, the Ghana programme has been judged a qualified success and the country has since been regularly cited as role models for the developing world. Receipts from the Gold sector helped sustain GDP growth in 2004, however inflation remains a major internal problem. Ghana is a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Appointments are customary and visitors should always be punctual for meetings. Best time for business visits is from September to April. Office hours: Mon-Fri 0800-1200 and 1400-1700, Sat 0830-1200.
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