Accra: Ghana's struggle to find meaningful industrial employment at home is a question that has persisted through economics lectures, policy seminars, and national accounts. The answer lies in the data, which has been apparent for 44 years.
According to Ghana Web, Ghana's manufacturing value added as a percentage of GDP, a key measure of industrial capacity, shows stagnation over four and a half decades. In 1980, manufacturing was 7.81% of GDP; in 2024, it stands at 9.84%. The peak was 11.59% in 2013, with a low of 3.61% in 1982. The average over this period is 9.01%. Despite numerous governments and development plans, manufacturing's share has barely shifted, indicating a structural condition.
Countries like South Korea, Malaysia, and Vietnam have transformed their economies through industrialisation. In contrast, Ghana, despite its rich resources like gold, bauxite, oil, and cocoa, remains entrenched in primary commodity export. The country exports raw materials, while processing and refining occur elsewhere, leading to value-chain entrapment.
The cocoa sector exemplifies this issue. Ghana and C´te d'Ivoire supply 60% of the world's cocoa, yet prices are set in New York and London. According to campaign group Make Chocolate Fair and Oxfam International, cocoa farmers receive less than 6% of a chocolate bar's retail price.
Each percentage point of manufacturing value not developed in Ghana represents lost job opportunities. Young Ghanaians face limited options, leading to informal work or migration. The images of Ghanaians in difficult circumstances abroad are consequences of an economy that neglected manufacturing.
The rapid growth of Ghana's working-age population pressures a manufacturing sector that hasn't budged in decades. Manufacturing stagnation results from factors like trade liberalisation without industrial protection, commodity revenue without reinvestment, policy discontinuity, and finance bypassing productive investment.
To move forward, Ghana must focus on value addition before export, durable industrial policy, technical and vocational education, and patient industrial finance. The World Bank's data reveals Ghana's structural stagnation, with the country exporting raw materials and importing finished products. The young Ghanaian who leaves for work abroad is a casualty of this condition.
Reversing this will require a national decision to change from raw export to value addition, utilizing resources, people, and political will to build a different future.