As a result of the demise of Jalyn's powercord (which we were told would take 10 days for a new one to arrive), I've decided to contribute to the blog in her stead. I'm not as witty, or as interesting, or as good looking, but I'll do my best. I'll let her do the update for Togo, as well as the one for Benin (this coming weekend). What I thought might be interesting to have, is a framework to compare the cultural and economic nuances of Ghana, Kenya, and some of the other countries we've been visiting against one another.
Before I go on though, I should note that a colleague (a "good morning / good evening" in the hall only kind of colleague) just stopped by my desk to say good morning and shake hands, followed by the obligatory finger snap. I somehow missed the fingersnap, which is embarrassing for both parties, and as a result we tried again (even more embarrassing for me). Again, I was unable to execute on the snap causing further embarrassment. With a final attempt, which I tried to play into an educational training session on how to do it properly (a weakly disguised attempt to reduce the embarrassment on both sides), I still missed the snap. We gave up and parted ways uneasily, somewhat less likely to great in this way again I'm guessing. I feel like such an amateur (and no, thats not me in the picture)
After returning from Togo last weekend, our Ghanaian colleagues were asking us with interest what we thought of Togo and whether we liked it better than Ghana. Similar questions about Kenya have arisen as well, with some concern about Ghana's place in Africa (I think Kenya is perceived as a primary cultural and economic competitor). My first impression and answer to these questions is that Ghana outwardly appears to be doing much better and seems to be leading the economic charge out of African poverty and into self-sustaining long-term economic viability.
Why? I'm not sure exactly since its likely a variety of factors that I see on a daily basis that in aggregate indicate things are going pretty well here in comparison. A few of these observations are as follows: 1) The clear presence of a Ghanaian middle class represented by modest homes and neighborhoods, both around the outskirts of Accra (somewhat expected around any major metropolitan area), but more surprisingly (and I believe one of the major differences between Ghana and Kenya) are the middle class neighborhoods in the country side (witnessed a nice area in the Volta region by the Akosombo Dam, (see our Volta region blog entry for pictures) which has created the biggest man made lake in the world by the way) not present in other countries we've visited. 2) the presence of other major industies other than farming (i.e., gold mining) which employ Ghanaians, as well as a significant number of expats that we meet involved in these industries (as opposed to Kenya, where the majority of expats we met were involved in aid). 3) The fact that a number of educated people we've met here have been to other countries outside of Africa, which is an impossibility for many Africans in other countries, even with a good salaried job. 4) Finally, a variety of other smaller things, like improved internet speeds, the presence of more family cars, the improved safety conditions, and finally, the fact that people can speak about the government and the police without saying the word corrupt in the same sentance. Oh yeah, and Obama came here and said they were better.
To try to flush out some of these observations into hard facts, I've pulled some figures from the CIA factbook. The comparison is as follows:
A few observations:
-The proportion of youth to the rest of the population is high for all these countries, although I was rather surprised Rwanda's wasn't disproportionately higher given the genocide occured less than 15 years ago.
-Ghana's median age is the highest, as well the percent of the population that is prime working age
-Ghana has a smaller average family size compared to the other countries
-Kenya has the highest literacy rate, which is very good news for them, but the fact that every other country is below 70% is bad news
-GDP growth rates are all low except Ghana and Rwanda, but the recession may be skewing these
-The percent of the labor force in agriculture is disproportionate to the percent of GDP, particularly in Kenya and Rwanda, suggesting the labor force may not be well utilized (or farmers need the most help here to increase yields and find markets - go TechnoServe)
-Wish the unemployment rate figures were better, but if Ghana's and Kenya's are true, wow. Very good news for Ghana
-Population in poverty is shocking for all, but Ghana's is the best
-Inflation is a problem everywhere. Tough to invest and save in a country where this is a big problem
The real litmus test may be how cool the flag looks. Its close, but Kenya wins this one, although Ghana's is pretty sweet
-CN
One of my astute Ghanaian friends had this to say about the stats, "Interesting comparison. It's difficult for me to have faith in such economic data in the developing world though (e.g., There is no way Ghana's unemployment rate is only 11%)"
ReplyDelete...Maybe I should have labeled this blog "Directional"