After reading Annelise’s paper for the peer critique and
seeing Ghana’s election results today, I couldn’t help but notice how relevant
her argument is to Ghana’s current situation, and how my previous post about
Ghana’s global rise and its label as the fastest growing economy in 2011 (TIME)
are highly applicable. There is an interesting dichotomy in Ghana’s elections,
because they are democratic and there are two predominant parties, NDC and NPP,
which makes the political sphere very modern, but the elections are centered on
controlling the oil revenues, which makes it somewhat rudimentary. The combination
of being one of the world’s fastest growing economies and being Africa’s most
stable democracy (BBC) presents a unique reality, as the growth is currently
from the resource sectors, but it said to be invested in sustainable
infrastructure and economic growth.
Much
talk on natural resources centers around the natural resource curse that Paul
Collier speaks of, and we have seen many countries fail with the economy of
natural resources as their foundation, such as Chad and Nigeria. In response,
there are many different arguments regarding natural resources. Some advocate
to not invest in oil extraction, others say that investment must be conditioned
with policies, etc. However, Ghana presents a condition that other African
countries do not have: it has a high-quality government that is capable of
handling resource rents. These rents often force other countries to succumb to
resource dependence, as Nigeria discovered oil many years ago, but it has
failed to develop and many of its citizens still live on $1.25 a day (Oxford).
Ghana
not only has the potential, but also the political will to circumvent this
resource curse and handle its revenues well. John Mahama of the NDC (who just
won the election) has promised that his long-term investments in infrastructure
will fuel long-term growth for Ghana and enable them to escape reliance on the
resource sector (Madison), while Akufo-Addo of the NPP claimed that he would
use resource wealth to offer free education. Recent news claims that the NDC
has secured the election with 50.7% of the vote (ModernGhana), which, according
to statements made by both candidates, will ensure that oil revenue is invested
well.
However,
news also states that because of the extremely close election, there is much
tension in the country (ModernGhana). This presents another interesting
dichotomy, because although Ghana is considered to be Africa’s most stable
democracy, high tensions over this election could potentially lead to some
destabilization. While it is a positive thing to have high voter participation
and civic engagement, this election had an 80% voter turnout (BBC), so citizens
are extremely impassioned about the election results and could become violent,
according to some. This high civic participation does indicate that citizens
are concerned about government action and also have a say “in how government
will use oil revenues in the future” (Madison), so the Ghanaian government is
held accountable to citizens.
This
fact alone prevents the natural resource curse, because in authoritarian
regimes with resource rents, political leaders are not held accountable to
citizens, but in the Ghanaian democracy, citizens and leaders hold each other
accountable. Despite the fact that there is raising tension surrounding these
elections, both parties claim that they will use oil revenues for investment in
a sustainable economy. The elections may produce short-term unrest, but as long
as the resource industry is still utilized to produce a sustainable economy,
Ghana will remain to be a predominant African success story.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20660228
No comments:
Post a Comment