African Journal of
Political Science and International Relations

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Pol. Sci. Int. Relat.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0832
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJPSIR
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 405

Article in Press

Addressing Economic Inequalities and Poverty in Ghana

Andrew Kweku Conduah

  •  Received: 08 June 2022
  •  Accepted: 29 July 2022
In the last two decades, Ghana has achieved some economic growth since the re-launch of democratic governance in the 1990’s, though this is becoming very volatile in recent past. Ghana’s upward development averaged 5.8 percent out of the thirteen years of the last two decades. In 2009, this growth period halted due to the global economic crisis which reduced the rate to 4 percent. Macro-economic indicators picked up in 2011 when growth reached 15 percent as the production of oil commenced. This growth decelerated rapidly reaching 3.5 percent by 2016, the lowest since 1990. This growth reduced extreme poverty to 25 percent between 1992 and 2013 coupled with some political and social progress. Nevertheless, income inequality has been growing for years which threatens poverty reduction and the prospects for cohesive society. Therefore, Ghana must fight inequality to lift more people out of poverty, sustain economic growth and maintain national cohesion. Methodology: The paper is situated in the qualitative paradigm of research that used Corpus Construction in the selection of material to represent a whole making it functionally equivalent to sampling but structurally different to study documents to ascertain current state of endemic inequalities in Ghana. Results: Some ethnic disparities or horizontal inequalities give cause to a variety of political disturbances including violent conflicts and civil wars, and the presence of political, economic and social inequalities when mixed with cultural differences can ignite great political violence. Conclusion: Inequality makes it difficult to overcome poverty and exclusion as well as developing a prosperous and harmonious societies. Policy makers should know that continuous inequality is bad for individuals, nations and can be avoided through government action

Keywords: Economic inequalities; Ghana; Gini concentration ratio; Horizontal inequalities; and Spatial inequalities.