This document summarizes Ghana's economic development under British colonial rule from the late 19th century to independence in the 1950s. It outlines how the British promoted education, employed local people, and took a laissez-faire approach to commerce and industry. Cocoa production became a major industry and Ghana was a top global producer of gold and manganese. Infrastructure like roads, railways, ports, hospitals and schools were established. Ghana gained independence in 1951 under its first prime minister Kwame Nkrumah and the Convention People's Party, which aimed to achieve self-governance.

1. ASSIGNMENT 3- Ghana: National Economic Strategy MAY 2012
Question1 –What does the Ghana Case reveal about why countries progress? Fail to progress?
Ghana was organized as a self –supporting entity funded by local resources and loans. More so than
the other British colonial powers,
The British promoted education and employed skilled indigenous people throughout the civil
service.
The government took a laissez-faire approach to commerce,
Was opened the first bank in Ghana(Standard Bank now)
Cocoawas introduced by Presbyterian missionaries in the mid – nineteenth century and promoted by
the colonial government, and cause of its high value, became the main occupation in forested rural
communities.
British-owned firms started large scale mining operation in Ghana, the Ashanti Goldfields
Corporation began producing from one of the world’s richest mines in the Asante region.
Ghana produced 10% of the world’s gold, (1 million pounds of gold were exported annually,( by
1910), and was the world’s second –largest producer of manganese.
Ghana had one one of the best –developed road networks in the developing world.
Railway development in Ghana began in 1898.
The colonial authorities also developed the first postal, telephone, telegraph, and radio
infrastructure. The Accra-Liverpool cable system created direct telecommunications with Europe in
1988.
Prepared by: Imelda MUSMUCA 1

2. ASSIGNMENT 3- Ghana: National Economic Strategy MAY 2012
Following WWI, Governor Gordon Guggisberg built Ghana s first- deep water harbor at Takoradi .
An eastern railway was completed in 1923 and a central province railway in 1927.
The nation s first general hospital was established (Korle Bu) and became the model for all uture
hospitals in Ghana.
Ghana s first secondary school(Wesley High School ), was established by Methodists in 1876.
Ghana s first University was established in 1948,(The university of Ghana)
Kwame Nkrumah, a charismatic speaker, that in election in 1951 became Ghana s first prime min
ister, established the Convention People s Party (CPP), on 1949,where the party s aim was
independence.
Question 2: What are the major themes that have emerged in the course about competition,
economic development, and the appropriate role of government in achieving prosperity ?
Prepared by: Imelda MUSMUCA 2