Position Papers

Human Rights as a Global Conversation about Human Dignity

Scholars and writers who study “human rights” have done so in various ways. In his study of “An Akan Perspective on Human Rights,” the Ghanaian philosopher Kwasi Wiredu defined “human rights” as “claims that people are entitled to make … by virtue of their status as human beings.”1

The Changing Face of Banking in Ghana and the Implications for Ghana’s Economy

Banks are financial intermediaries that accept deposits from surplus spending units and channel these in the form of loan products to deficit spending units in the economy. The business of banking started in the then Gold Coast during the colonial era with the aim of providing financial services to the British enterprises and the colonial administration. In 1896, the Bank of the British West Africa (which later became Standard Chartered Bank in 1985) opened its first branch in Accra. The success of the bank attracted other foreign banks to begin operations in the then Gold Coast.

Ghana and China: Opportunities for Growth?

China has just emerged as the world’s largest economy, finally overtaking the United States. China’s economic growth over the last two decades has been nothing short of spectacular, and it now has the largest middle class population in the world, some 300 million Chinese. China with her 1.357 billion people is courted by the European Union and the United States, and Western businesses. Yet China’s political economy is a paradox at three levels. Firstly, China is both a developed and a developing country.

Ghana’s Exchange Rate Challenge: can we ever get out of it?

The rapid depreciation of the cedi against other major currencies destabilized the Ghanaian economy in the first eight months of 2014 and raised the economic consciousness of every Ghanaian regardless of his/her level of understanding of economic issues. I was surprised when my illiterate mother insisted that I increase her monthly remittances to account for the rapid depreciation of the cedi. Indeed, this is not the first time Ghana has experienced such turbulence in the exchange rate market.

© 2015 All rights reserved.