Marketing

In the early 1990s, Ghana's economic recovery still appeared uneven and was geared primarily to the export rather than domestic market. GDP had risen by an average of 5 percent per year since 1984, inflation had been reduced to about 20 percent, and export earnings had reached US$1 billion. Most production came from the export sector, and by the 1992-93 crop year, cocoa production surpassed 300,000 tons, placing Ghana third in the world. In 1990 exports of minerals--primarily gold but also diamonds, manganese, and bauxite--brought in US$234 million, an increase of 23.2 percent from the year before. Nevertheless, salaries were low, and because the cost of public services continued to rise, Ghana's poor bore the brunt of the negative effects of the austerity program.

Ghana has rebased its national accounts, changing the base year from 1993 to 2006. According to the national authorities, following the rebasing, the size of the economy in real gross domestic product (GDP) terms has been raised threefold and placed Ghana among the lower middle income group of countries. The rebasing has also suggested greater fiscal space for Ghana with a reduced revenue-to-GDP ratio. While questions on the international acceptability of the new numbers remain, one point is clear: they confirm what most observers have often suggested, namely that the size of the Ghanaian economy has hither to been grossly under-estimated.

Economic growth has remained strong with real GDP growth reaching an estimated 5.9% in 2010 compared to 4.7% in 2009. Growth prospects are even brighter as real GDP growth of 12.0% and about 11.0% are projected for 2011 and 2012 respectively, largely on account of the start of oil production in commercial quantities in December 2010. In addition, the country’s increasingly democratic settlement and social stability have served to boost the confidence of investors, leading to rising investment.

The retail industry is a sector of the economy that is comprised of...