Ghana’s 2018 microeconomic stability has been under the spotlight since January with several economic reports in the first quarter of the year giving predictions of a productive year. One of such key reports was from the World Bank (WB), which identified and forecasted an improvement in Ghana’s microeconomic outlook for 2018.
The 3rd edition of the Ghana Economic Update by  the WB ascribed the expected positive outlook to three key attributes; mostly to agriculture serving as the driver of development and employment origination, underscored a robust service sector, and anticipated a yielding off from sound fiscal consolidation. It further predicted a single digit inflation at a rate close to 10 percent.
Ghana’s agricultural sector has over the period been observed as having a tremendous effect on employment multiplication, thus arousing the need for more resource investment in the sector. According to the Ghana’s Economic Update projections by the World Bank, every additional $1million of output leads to the creation of 750 jobs. For this to be realised however, there’s the need for an improvement in the efficiency in agriculture public disbursement as well as the development of the right atmosphere for agriculture business. In addition, and of equal importance, is the government’s ability to address the many challenges that confront the cocoa sector considering the enormity of the cocoa economy.
The Government of Ghana, through some social interventions, has tried to increase the sector’s robustness to be able to preserve its position as a significant contributor to Ghana’s export income and a key source to the industrialized sector. But there’s still room for improvement. This backdrop unearths the need for increased research and development in the field of agriculture, strengthening of reforms that affect public sector services, as well as fostering of strong synergy between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire to increase manufacture gains and decrease loss. With the correct reforms, agriculture has the prospect of being the primary sector for a varied economy and can be transformed to be a permanent engine of development and job creation in the years ahead.
As observed by the IMF Managing Director, Ms. Christine Lagarde, which confirms the World Bank’s predictions in the early part of the year, Ghana has made great microeconomic progress in 2018. For instance, there’s a decline in inflation to a single digit, over six (6) percent increase in growth, and a primary surplus for the first time in 2017. We must all therefore work harder towards preserving our gains and achieving a much better and stable environment for businesses to thrive in 2019.
On this note I wish all our members, partners and cherished customers a Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year.