AMB places Ghana s economy under scrutiny

Ghana's position in the world economic order comes under scrutiny during an Africa Means Business discussion led by an economist. The Thomson Foundation's Chaacha Mwita describes how it raised journalists' awareness of the key issues facing the west African country.

Is Ghana a middle income country or has a mistake been made in its economic classification? This was the hottest topic of discussion in Accra, Ghana, during the last Africa Means Business (AMB) training session which ended on 19 July, 2013.

Participants in the AMB training economists and journalists under the expert guidance of economist Fritz Gockel, journalism lecturer Audrey Gadzepko and journalist Mark Webster, dissected the Ghanaian economy and arrived at the conclusion that whereas Ghana is indeed a middle income economy, its characteristics are those of a poor developing country.

Jobless economic growth I now understand! exclaimed Cephas Larbi, a journalist who hitherto was unable to comprehend how a country can seem poor and developing, yet be classified as a middle income country.

To understand this, participants focused on two topics: jobless economic growth and macroeconomic stabilisation. The first means economic growth without the creation of jobs, while the second refers to government policy to control inflation.

The topics were chosen from among others as the most important economic topics that are least covered in the media. The participants resolved to focus their attention on them and bring to public attention pertinent issues around these topics.

One of AMB's objectives is to simplify economics for the ordinary man and inform policy debates. AMB also aims at empowering economists to communicate better.

Tremendous importance At the end of the 2013 training in Ghana, one of the economists, Dr Emmanuel Ekow Asmah, said: This program has been of tremendous importance to me. I used to avoid the media. But after attending just one session of AMB, I am now able to field interviews on all media platforms and even approach the media myself.

Dr Asmah has already had two TV interviews and one radio interview since attending one session of AMB. With his colleagues at the University of Cape Coast, he has also called and held a successful press conference. It was a first! he says excitedly.

The project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and conceived by the Thomson Foundation, African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Oxford University's Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) and the Wincott Foundation.

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LINK:	http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/news-and-features/2013/07/23/amb-plac...
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