CASE STUDY CHAPTER 2 GHANA: AN AFRICAN DYNAMO

1. After gaining independence from Britain, Ghana's economy languished for three decades. Why was this the case? What does the Ghana

experience teach you about the connection between economic and political systems and economic growth?

2. What where the main changes that Gerry Rawlings made in the Ghanaian political and economic systems? What were the consequences of these changes? What are the lessons here?

3. What external forces helped to persuade Rawlings to change political and economic practices in Ghana? Do you think he would have made the changes he did without these external forces?

4. If Ghana had discovered large oil reserves in the 1980s, instead of the 2000s, do you things might have played out differently? Why?

5. What is the difference between the approach of Nigeria toward oil revenues and that of Ghana (the Nigerian experience is documented in the Country Focus feature in this chapter)? Which approach is in the best long-run interests of the country?

6. What does Ghana need to do to remain on its current track of sustained economic growth?