Ghana

Country Code
GH
Region
AFR
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Knowledge Provider
2
Knowledge Receiver
9
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GHA

The governments of Africa want to improve the investment climate and reduce poverty in their countries through modernization and industrialization. Learning from the Asian experience, many governments are developing Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to achieve these goals. Chinese knowledge, experience, and investment have been invaluable in developing these zones. However, most African countries still lack the infrastructure to make such SEZs effective and competitive on international markets.

After learning about the success of East Asian countries in developing their economies and attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through Special Economic Zones (SEZ), many African governments wanted to use the same strategy to improve their economic performance. However, most African countries lack the capacity to design and implement SEZs, including lack of policy framework clarity, difficulties in physical planning and land administration, and insufficient regulatory and administrative knowledge. They have also not being very successful in involving the private sector in SEZs.

Growth in the Information Technology and Business Process Outsourcing sector (IT-BPO) can transform a country’s economy and improve the lives of its citizens. No country is a better example than India, which has achieved phenomenal growth in this sector. As of 2010, India could boast of a 64 percent share of globally off-shored IT services and a 37 percent share in IT-enabled services (ITES)1.  Skills development has been a key driver of that growth.

The Government of Ghana created a specific unit to handle its new Local Government Capacity Support (LGCS) Project. However, this unit had limited capacity and operational experience. Local government officials from Ethiopia and Ghana shared experiences on design and implementation issues. A mix of technical staff from central and local government aimed to improve project management and provide impetus for further networking and input for long-term decision-making in Ghana.

Challenge

The Governments of Senegal, Ghana, and the Gambia sought to strengthen their capacity to reduce rates of malnutrition. Through a series of peer reviews in nutrition, officials from these countries identified new directions for reform, and enhanced their skills and commitment to design nutrition programs. They also integrated lessons from these reviews in the design World Bank-financed nutrition projects.

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Challenge