Cocoa and gold are key export commodities for Ghana

An Economist, Professor Godfred Bokpin, has stated that Ghana is still heavily reliant on the same exports it has depended on since independence.

He noted that more than 70% of the country’s export earnings continue to come from primary commodities, a situation that limits Ghana’s ability to fully benefit from its abundant natural resources.

According to him, this dependency reduces Ghana’s chances of gaining from manufacturing and secondary exports.

“Since independence, more than 70% of our export earnings have consistently been driven by primary commodities. We are still talking about the same percentage now, and when we say we’ve done well, it’s essentially more of the same. So how do you talk about resilience?” he questioned, as quoted by myjoyonline.com.

Professor Bokpin added that Ghana could have earned far more from the current global gains in gold and oil if these had been processed and exported as secondary products.

“The economy appears resilient now only because the negative events we’re seeing disproportionately benefit gold, and we’re getting some gains from that. But what if the crises had come from a slump in commodity prices? What would have happened to us?” he asked.

He emphasised the need for economic diversification to enable Ghana to fully maximise its export potential.

“Over the years, in fact, decades, we have not really structurally transformed this economy. We haven’t diversified it,” he stressed.

SSD/MA

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