Of Oil and God: A Month in Ghana

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It’s 11:45pm in Accra at Kotoka International Airport. I’ve arrived safely on Ghanaian soil. I wait a short while for my luggage and breeze through customs (which is the first reason why I love travelling to Ghana in the evening), then head for the stairs and into and the warm, balmy Ghanaian air.

As the subdued heat greets me, I recall the second reason why I love arriving in the evening, everything is so much more laid back, the air is cooler, calmer, and the traffic in people and vehicles is much less chaotic. As always, it’s wonderful to see my family’s smiling face as I make it through customs. My Ma, in particular, I’m sure had a tear in her eye—as this year she turned 70—and all her children were now by her side for this important milestone.

shops ghana 300x400 Of Oil and God: A Month in Ghana

So, having returned home for a month, how do I sum up my experience? Overall, on paper, Ghana is thriving. We’ve found oil, and we’re still rich in natural resources such as cocoa, coffee, Shea butter and industrial diamonds to name but a few. However, it is the discovery of oil in the Gulf of Guinea in 2007 that could make us a world-class oil producer and exporter of the black gold in the next few years. This discovery has certainly attracted more investments and tourism, and the return of affluent Ghanaians to enjoy the fruit of our newly found wealth. From all of this, you may be lead to believe that there have been many positive changes all around. Well, yes, and no.

Ghana is currently governed by President John Evans Atta Mills–his second year in office. His knack for restrictive policies, mean that there is a lack of flexibility when it comes to funds being channelled into the departments that need them most, so that the country’s most impoverished people can’t be reached, can’t be helped. With this lack of a governmental ‘safety net’ it would seem there is an element of ‘every man for himself,’ such as can be seen with the ludicrous price inflations. Market traders and small shop owners mark-up their prices on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis–which is where one needs to be vigilant and bargain whenever necessary, making it at times stressful process of budgeting for the average family.

At the time of writing, the Cedi was trading at a rate of 2.1 to the pound sterling. So, changing £20 gave me 41¢, which as I didn’t have a car, meant that I spent up to 15¢ a day on taxi fares, and if I needed to shop at the mall for essentials like milk and bread, I would end up parting with another 15 to 20¢ there, too. So afterwards, all I’d end up with is 10-5¢, if that, which certainly wouldn’t get the average Ghanaian very far.

average ghanaians Of Oil and God: A Month in Ghana

On a positive note, though, Ghana is lucky enough to have light and water almost continuously (and much more regularly than Nigeria), despite the odd power cut, which only lasts for no more than three hours at the most. Recently, however, there had been a water shortage in South-east Ghana, which lasted for nearly four weeks because of maintenance work in the Tema region. Consequently, if you don’t have a reservation tank, then it’s a choice of either buying water at inflated prices, or relying on the kindness of a neighbour to give you some of theirs, if their pipes still work. The general opinion on radio stations and in newspapers is that, again, money that should be spent on getting a state of the art, or at least functioning, underground water and sewage system, so that these highly inconvenient problems don’t reoccur, have been, well, chopped. Talk on the radio is of government ministers spending unnecessary funds on personal perks such as new homes, fast cars, loose women, and much more besides. Welcome to Africa.

Concern has been raised among the populous that the President doesn’t care about looking after his people, and the fact that he doesn’t have a family himself, is said to indicate an inability to relate to the financial struggles within a typical family unit. You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone, they say, and people here seem to feel that ex-president, John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor, made decisions that benefited the average Ghanaian family as he himself was a family man, which they say makes a difference here. They point to the rising need for jobs, and hardly any support for University graduates who don’t have the right connections. The compulsory National Service, they say, certainly doesn’t help, as although students may gain some experience, they do not always get paid due to low funding, putting additional strain on families. At the time of writing, I had heard some good news. There would be back payments for National Service employees who had not been paid for months on end, according to the government. Let’s hope this is not just another empty promise to quell the voice of dissent, if only briefly.

Roadworks ghana Of Oil and God: A Month in Ghana

So, in general, Ghanaians are unimpressed with their latest President. In an interesting cab ride with my Ma and the taxi driver in discussion about him, both agreed that he just hasn’t the same status as the ex-president Kufuor. “He does not generate as much interest for investors to commit to Ghanaian businesses, nor is he helping to build foreign alliances,” my Ma was saying to the nodding driver. While in the background on the radio, the commentators were arguing, “When Kufuor was in power, he travelled to different countries for government based meetings. But this Mills has been sending his second in command rather than attend himself. This is worrying for a man who is supposed to be running the country, a country whose needs and issues should be his first priority.”

There are those, however, who would argue that by investing in education President Mills is taking positive action to help Ghana’s youth. He’s backing the Youth-in-Agriculture programme, to educate young people about the land, so that they may be more prepared for the future. Local communities are also gaining help from unusual sources.

Some of Ghana’s large corporations such as The Ghana MTN Foundation have been set up to manage corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. As the number one telecommunications services provider in Ghana, MTN has contributed to this foundation in an effort to give back to their customers and the country that has provided them a healthy profit each year. Accordingly, “MTN is committed to partner with other key stakeholders to support national efforts at improving the quality of life of the Ghanaian population.”

MTN Ads Of Oil and God: A Month in Ghana

The company recently donated medical equipments worth GH¢30,000 to the management of Kotokuom Health Centre to help improve health care delivery in the Atwima Mponua District of the Ashanti Region. This is a valuable contribution, which was greatly needed, as it will support Ghana’s Health Service (GHS) in saving lives and bringing quality health care closer to people living in rural areas. MTN is also an official sponsor of FIFA 2010, and they have helped to launch the 1Goal Education for All Campaign in Ghana (a FIFA legacy project to give children in developing countries access to education through awareness and support initiatives). By joining the 1Goal team online, you will be supporting a campaign to achieve education for all. It is called the Educatuion4all Campaign and its goal is to education 72 million children around the world by 2015, ensuring that every child has an education and the chance to beat poverty.

MTN is also doing its best to help improve different areas of Ghana’s capital city, Accra. I read somewhere that as part of its 21-day community care scheme, MTN had refurbished the Maternal and Psychiatric blocks of the Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua. This news provides a ray of hope for many Ghanaians, one that will hopefully inspire more big businesses to follow MTN’s example. This leads me to talk briefly about another big Telecom company gradually establishing its presence in Ghana.

Busstop ghana 300x211 Of Oil and God: A Month in Ghana

Vodafone has quickly joined the race to be even better than MTN, and although they may have a long way to go, they are fast becoming Ghana’s main provider of Internet, landlines, and of course, mobile phone services. One of the ways that Vodafone is attempting to be Number One in Ghana is by advertising on people’s properties. Instead of using billboards, they have struck on the novel idea of paying home-owners to paint their houses bright red with the Vodafone logo plastered in white across the buildings. MTN, meanwhile, is also playing the “use my house as a billboard” game, and getting people to paint their walls bright yellow, with the MTN logo by the side, which can make it look a bit like entering Lego Land! Travelling to Kumasi, we noticed a lot of red Vodafone and yellow MTN houses, shacks and stalls, all vying for our attention in a divide and conquer kind of way. It seems the ordinary people of Ghana are getting involved in a clash between the two corporate giants by–quite literally—nailing their colours to the mast!

But in addition to the good news we hear of investments, both in Ghana’s economy and its young people, I believe the one thing which Ghana has in its favour, is the power of the collective energy that is God (Nyame!) The love and praise for Nyame is incredibly strong–Echart Tolle’s ‘The Power of Now’ is nothing compared to the level of positive spiritual energy here! You can’t pass a shop, signpost or taxi without seeing the sign or name of God, and this is how Ghanaians are surviving–whatever difficulties come their way. There is a strong belief that in knowing God you truly can achieve anything- and maybe one day this collective faith will bring about the necessary changes in order to lead our country into greater prosperity.

I feel that Ghana’s forthcoming generation needs to be strong enough to make the changes that their country needs; and fearless enough to avoid conforming to the system or too much tradition. Let’s have a nation that is energized, as well as capable of making changes that will benefit the land, the environment, and most of all, the people.

Let’s hope the discovery of oil in our glorious Ghana does bring about positive outcomes in all areas, and maybe, the former Gold Coast will succeed where other African countries have failed–-providing we can collectively pull together as a national community and move forward. For now, the future for Ghana is bright, though it could be even brighter!