Theory and Experience: Constraints on Development in Ghana

Acronyms: GDP: Gross Domestic Product. HDI: Human Development Index. ICV: In-country Volunteer. NFED: Non-formal Education Division.NGO: Non-governmental Organisation. PPP: Purchasing Power Parity. SDGs: Sustainable Development Goals. SSA: Sub-Saharan Africa. UKV: United Kingdom Volunteer. WTO: World Trade Organisation.

Tackling a topic as large as the constraints on Ghana’s development, in just over a page, is almost impossible. Having just completed an MSc in Political Economy of Late Development at the LSE, I have barely scratched the surface of some of the factors that can hold back development. This is because the topic encompasses a wealth of theory, from contrasting perspectives, on areas as diverse as trade, demographics and climate change. If there is a dichotomy within academic writing between parsimony and complexity, this blog adopts the former strategy. To filter which development theories to integrate, I will relate them to my experiences in Ghana, both within and outside of my work. In this way, I will personally evaluate whether these theories accurately depict the constraints that I have identified. In other words: is Ghana an example or an exception to development theories? Analysing constraints on development is inevitably quite gloomy, but perhaps you might consider solutions as you read.

What is development? The answer is subjective; I will rely on Sen's influential definition of development as the expansion of the social, economic and political ‘freedoms enjoyed by the members of society' (1999, p.3). While expanding GDP per capita is often construed as an ‘ends' to development, Sen criticises this, arguing that earning a higher income is merely a ‘means' to development. Why? If you were denied any education but were granted £1million, would you be capable of spending it to better your life? What if you died of a tropical disease before you could spend it? These are examples of constraints on development (as freedom). The ‘ends' of development should be to expand individual's freedoms, e.g. by improving their access to schools, family planning and health services. For example, our partner organisation, the NFED, gives rural, illiterate women an education. Giving them this freedom will expand their incomes, which is our primarily objective. This is reflected in International Service adopting a human rights based approach to development; a higher income is not necessarily a right, but education, suffrage and gender equality are. Development is freedom and rights secure your freedom.

Corruption is commonly cited as constraints to development (Krueger, 1997, p.13), especially in Africa (Mkandawire, 1988, p.17). The frequent police stops that I have experienced here, in which licenses are often handed out of the window with a bank note underneath to be allowed through, indicates that corruption is pervasive. Evidencing this, Transparency International ranks Ghana as the 61^st most corrupt country of the 175 considered (2014). Similarly, neopatrimonialism has been described as endemic in Africa (Altenberg, 2011, p.10; Kohli, 2004, p.342), which is a system whereby trading of favours and state resources with known connections is the principle method to secure loyalty and move up the social hierarchy. This is a barrier to development as it supersedes the efficient transfer of resources. I believe that neopatrimonialism is a serious issue in Ghana; many ICVs have justifiably lamented the difficulty of securing a job without family or political connections and favour trading (with a member of my team joking that the first and most important  interview question in, say, a law firm, is typically ‘which member of your family is a lawyer?’). This difficulty in securing a job by graduates, in particular, is captured in ‘skills paradox’ theory, which considers whether ‘jobless’ growth in SSA is a consequence of employers being unable to find enough skilled workers(DIAL, 2007). For Ghana I find this argument, that there is a sufficient demand for skilled workers but insufficient supply of top graduates, to be unconvincing for several reasons. Firstly, all of the ICVs in my team are graduates, they are at least as capable as UKV graduates, yet I have not heard this skills deficit argument applied in the UK. Secondly, I believe that the neopatrimonial employment process is a genuine constraint. Thirdly, Ghana is currently subject to severe restrictions on government employment, which was a condition of its IMF bailout in April (Ministry of Finance Republic of Ghana, 2015), closing another key employment source for many. Finally, ICV graduates, understandably, want the skilled jobs that they have trained for, with higher ‘reservation wages’ than are commonly available (Filmer and Fox, 2014).

Notably, if the amount of USAID, World Vision, WHO and UNICEF signs plastered everywhere give any indication, it seems that one of the highest employing sectors in Ghana is NGOs and development agencies. Never have I seen a clearer example of Easterly’s conception of ‘The Tyranny of Experts’, where often-misguided technocrats rule (2013). While Easterly would see such a reliance on aid as a constraint on development, Sachs would view it as a solution as he sees aid as a means to escape the ‘poverty trap' (2005). For brevity's sake, I will sit on the fence for that debate.

There is so much more that I would like to cover, ranging from population to gender to microfinance, but the word count constrains me (and spares you). For instance, I have specialised in studying trade policy; one of my favourite pastimes is criticising the WTO, for which I have a published essay (Pearce, 2015). I have my suspicions that WTO rules are behind the fact that in the world’s second largest cocoa bean exporter (GBN, 2015) I am suffering from an inability to find any chocolate, but this could be paranoia. I will just say that the constraints identified above both adhere to and counter development theory, and that all of them have solutions. I have no doubt that these constraints will be overcome to allow this beautiful and friendly country to continue its rapid development. Thanks for reading.

Written by Chris Pearce 

Bibliography

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DIAL. (2007). Youth and labour markets in Africa. A critical review of literature, Working Paper DT/2007-02, February. Available at: https://ideas.repec.org/p/dia/wpaper/dt200702 [Accessed 12 Nov. 2015]. 

Easterly, W. (2013). The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor. Basic Books. 

Filmer, D. and Fox, L. (2014). Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa Development Series. Washington DC: World Bank. Available at:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/01/19342178/youth-employment-sub-saharan-africa-vol-2-2-full-report [Accessed 13 Nov. 2015].

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Mkandawire, T. (1988). Road to Crisis, Adjustment and Deindustrialisation: the African Case. Africa development, [online] 13(1), pp.5-31. Available at: http://readinglists.lse.ac.uk/items/2E045D5D-D850-57D8-170E-A87F946A4FC6.html?referrer=%2Flists%2F2D0EEBAF-FCEB-3F1C-8D23-FC125B6EF09F.html%23item-2E045D5D-D850-57D8-170E-A87F946A4FC6 [Accessed 2 Feb. 2015]. 

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