Some Thoughts on Ghana, (just a few)

Both the history and the current state of African politics and economics are drenched in complexities. Where Africa stands relative to modern capitalist world economic powers leaves the continent in a position of dependency and open to exploitation. After fifty years of political independence, many regions remain unstable, impoverished, and unable to either compete with global powers or become self sustaining.
Although many great thinkers have brought forth various ideas about where African politics and economics should head, there are three perspectives which will be discussed here. These hypotheses were, quite obviously, founded on the events and issues corresponding to Africa during the era in which they were conceived. Although the ideas can conflict, the reader should keep in mind that each theory is backed by passion, logic, and an earnest desire to invest in the resurrection of the Mother Land and her children.
During the first wave of African independence, Ghana was an example of statism being used in an effort to expedite modernization. Kweme Nkrumah may have intended on transforming Ghana into a trend setter in the eyes of the west. His economic plans for the country included varied agriculture and industry working symbiotically. In The Origins of Modern African Thought, Robert William July states “Productivity had to be increased significantly and changed from subsistence farming to a commodity cultivation carefully designed to provide adequate food for a steadily rising population while supplying local industry with raw materials and producing cash crops which could pay for necessary imports”(July 2004, 470). His method for application was to centralize economic power and planning which included establishing one party-rule of the state. It should be noted, however, that a one party state may have been an effort to create a sense of nationalism and unity within Ghana as well.
Under British colonial rule, Ghana exported cocoa to a degree that verged on excluding crop diversification. To combat this problem, Nkrumah directed attention towards other potential exports such as rubber, coffee, palm products and tobacco. Diversifying Ghana’s exports could potentially protect against price fluctuations felt by international markets (July 2004, 470). Nkrumah’s plans seemingly relied on a little of everything, taking a somewhat “post-modern view… that Africa uses whatever works” (Hudson 2009). In this case, at the birth of African independence, Ghana was attempting to diversify its assets and compete in a modern economic paradigm.
The goals appear honest and sincere, but many problems were to arise with the attempt to modernize and the use of statism. The centralization of the government brought about the socialization of the agricultural system and, thus, diminished wages for farmers who began migrating to urban areas. The government took control of the cocoa industry which was sold on the international market at inflated prices while the cocoa farmers saw less and less of their earnings. Also, larger cities contained government run centralized facilities such as universities, hospitals and other such “modern” services. Urban centers had high unemployment rates and the farmers struggled.
Ghana’s attempt at industrialization was somewhat blunderous. A canning plant intended to can about 7,000 tons of mangoes per year was built and the cost was well over budget. Shortly thereafter, it was found that barely any wild mango trees grew in the region and that it would take years for new trees to bear fruit. Another example was the government’s attempt at creating a shoe industry. The shoe plants were located at a great distance from the cattle industry, making the necessary leather and tanning facilities nearly inaccessible (Koney 2006). Simply put, Ghana was experiencing urbanization without industrialization.
The International Monetary Fund invested in Nkrumah’s plans. In 1973, however, the IMF began asking for early reimbursement of the loans made towards the failed projects in Ghana (Hudson 2/10/09). Ghana remained underdeveloped and dependent on the West. As Mazrui said, “100 years of African colonial rule demands structural revolution to make right 500 years of systematic exploitation” (Mazrui 1986). Africa needed to be reinvested in by those that stole from the continent and reaped the benefits of such thievery. Included in this idea is debt relief for cases such as that of Ghana.
Many people believe that the only way for Africa to survive is to compete in a neo-liberal economic paradigm. It seemed as though Ghana made an attempt which only created a sustained dependency on the West and further exploitation from global investors. Africa began to try out new leadership styles. Examples include Rhodesia/Zimbabwe under Mugabe’s rule and Mandela’s South Africa (Hudson 2/12/09). Mugabe is an example of highly corrupted statism, as with Ghana, where the power wielding elite benefit at the expense of the masses. This type of exploitation is usually initiated under the cover of forming a national identity.
Centralized political and economic planning can be cause for hope as well, however. When centralized, an economy could potentially be more closely guided in the desired direction. As mentioned in the case of Ghana, although a failure in practice, statism may help expedite a nation’s leap into the 20th century after hundreds of years of systematic exploitation. Different types of systems, both economic and political, were toyed with to move towards the “structural revolution” Mazrui demands (Hudson 2009).
Surely there are those who are enamored with the idea of Sankofa, returning to an era before Africa was defiled by the West. It is true that before European influence Africa contained many rich kingdoms, economic systems and trade routes that had been well established for hundreds of years in some cases. Perhaps Africans can return to this era in some metaphorical sense, but the sheer fact of the matter is that there has been too much damage done to allow for the necessary unification and direction of the entire continent towards the application of Sankofa. The poverty and conflicts within Africa (which I would term the results of European intrusion) make the return home seem impossible.