Economy-Wide Impact of Oil Discovery in Ghana

Abstract

Ghana's oil will start to flow in
 2011, maybe even before, and most of its known reserves will
 be extracted in the immediate years after. The promise of
 oil generates expectations of all sorts, the more so as
 Ghana currently grapples with a macroeconomic crisis of
 significant proportions. This overview discusses the
 Ghana-specific nature of these challenges and explores
 possible options to address them. In doing so, it builds on
 seven thematic chapters which look at different aspects of
 the question: (1) oil facts, (2) political economy, (3)
 public financial management, (4) infrastructure, (5) private
 sector development, (6) agriculture, and (7) poverty. While
 the overview tries to bring together the findings of these
 different chapters, further details and discussions on each
 of these topics can be found in o f the chapters themselves.
 It concludes that while oil revenue will not be large enough
 to radically transform Ghana, it could, if improperly
 managed, impose enough stress on non-oil sectors to severely
 undermine Ghana's medium term development prospects.
 Hence the huge premium and responsibilities put on
 Ghana's successive authorities to wisely manage the oil
 wealth to promote the development of the non-oil sectors.