History & Population

Ghana is situated on the west coast of the African continent. Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Burkina Faso share borders with Ghana. Once known as the Gold Coast due to its enormous mineral wealth, Ghana traded with the Mali Empire, Portuguese, Dutch, and finally, the British, who relinquished control on the 6th of March 1957. Ghana thus became the first black African nation south of the Sahara to shake off the shackles of colonial rule, a feat that inspired many African countries to seek independence in the 1960s.

Ghana is slightly smaller in size than the State of Oregon. Ghana currently has a population of about 22.9 million. Of the total population in Ghana age 0-14 years is 38.8% and 15-64 years is 57.7%. The median age is 20 years old. The life expectancy rate in Ghana is 58.87. The HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate in Ghana is 3.1% of the total population. The literacy rate in Ghana is 74.8%. This rate is defined by those persons age 15 years and over, who can read and write.

Ghana is well endowed with natural resources. Ghana has roughly twice the per capita output of the poorer countries in West Africa. Even so, Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and technical assistance. Gold, timber, and cocoa production are major sources of foreign exchange. The domestic economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 34% of GDP and employs 60% of the work force, mainly small landholders. Priorities under its current $38 million Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) include tighter monetary and fiscal policies, accelerated privatization, and improvement of social services. Receipts from the gold sector helped sustain GDP growth in 2005 along with record high prices for Ghana’s largest cocoa crop to date. Inflation remains a major internal problem. Yet in 2011, Ghana was listed as the world’s fastest growing economy.  Since December 2010, expected oil revenues (more than $1 billion over the next two decades) were anticipated to create even more challenges, in terms of both social and environment justice.  How will Ghana avoid an ever-widening global gap between the haves and have-nots? How can Ghanaians educate a new generation of leaders? What tools will they require to lead the nation towards a sustainable future for all Ghanaians and their neighbors on the planet?