A dramatic economic downturn in Ghana is turning the once-peaceful nation into a hotbed of furious mass discontent, and angry demonstrations over rising prices and rising unemployment, among other issues.

Ghanaians are now emigrating in droves, with Nigeria, the regional economic powerhouse, a favoured destination for many of them.

See full report from Al Jazeera:

Protests Over Economic Woes Enter Second Day in Ghana

Frustration has grown in recent months as Ghanaians bear the brunt of rampant inflation amid government efforts to redress the economy.



Demonstrators in Ghana’s capital have gathered for a second day of protests against spiralling inflation and other economic woes after the first day ended in clashes with police and 29 arrests.

Wednesday’s protests kicked off at about noon GMT amid a heavy police presence.

Hundreds had taken to the streets on Tuesday to denounce price hikes, a tax on electronic payments and other levies amid an economic downturn.

Police dispersed the authorised march with tear gas and water cannon after demonstrators turned violent and wounded a dozen officers, according to a statement.

They arrested 29 demonstrators for “attacks and damage to public property” and were reviewing footage of the event to identify more participants.

A senior member of the local “Arise Ghana” lobby group that organised the protest, Sammy Gyamfi, told Reuters that police had agreed to provide security for demonstrations on the second day.

The police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ghana, one of West Africa’s largest economies and the continent’s second-biggest gold producer, saw growth slow to 3.3 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2022 and inflation hit a record of 27.6 percent in May.

Frustration has grown in recent months as Ghanaians bear the brunt of rampant inflation amid government efforts to redress the economy, reappreciate the local currency and avoid a debt crisis....

Last August, citizens also took to the streets in a protest demanding accountability and good governance. The protests went viral on social media under the #fixthecountry hashtag, which is being used again for this week’s demonstrations.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/29/protests-over-economic-woes-enter-second-day-in-ghana

Its like jumping from frying pan to fire.

Ghanians are not that dumb.

The whole world is feeling the heat, even the best economies are not left out

Buhari de wait for una , the new road don de ready ,na Morocco una go face because the road when em tar end for Morocco

In her bid to get well economically Ghana will have to swallow bitter economic pills courtesy IMF conditionalities. It will tell on Ghanaians who will scapegoat foreign Nationals as they struggle to eke out a living. Nigerians who ran to Ghana and away from the Nigerian harsh economic weather had better be on their way back home before they become victims of transferred aggression. A word is enough for the wise.

GreatBoss:
Its like jumping from frying pan to fire.

Ghanians are not that dumb.

Things are far cheaper in Nigeria than in Ghana dude.

You need to see how expensive things are in Ghana now, even food.

Boys are not smiling there at all.

zoedew:
Nigerians who ran to Ghana had better be on their way back before they become victims of transferred aggression.

True. Soon we may see those frustrated Ghanaian traders targeting the more prosperous Nigerian merchants in the markets, and blaming them for the economic problems.

Crisis-hit Ghana Changes Its Mind and Turns to IMF for Help

- Ghana had previously refused to seek IMF help
- Hundreds protested in the capital over economic woes
- IMF says ready to support, will start talks soon
- Ghana's dollar-denominated sovereign bonds rally sharply

ACCRA, July 1 (Reuters) - Ghana, one of West Africa's largest economies, will hold formal talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a support package, the government said on Friday, after hundreds took to the streets to protest against mounting hardship.

The cabinet gave its support for the decision at a meeting on Thursday, following a phone conversation between President Nana Akufo-Addo and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.

Ghana, a gold, cocoa and oil producer, has until now refused to seek IMF support to rescue an economy crippled by the pandemic, rampant inflation and a depreciating currency, despite analysts warning it is close to a debt crisis..

The IMF confirmed Ghana's request for help and said it would start discussions with authorities in the coming weeks....

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/crisis-hit-ghana-changes-its-mind-turns-imf-help-2022-07-01/

I've never seen a country that ''turned to the IMF for help'', and came out smiling in the end.

It's typically downhill from there.

GreatBoss:
Its like jumping from frying pan to fire.

Ghanians are not that dumb.

For most folks like you, you do not value what you have until you lose it. Thank God for President Muhammadu Buhari. May God bless him and bless Nigeria.

That is why we do not take our successes in Lagos for granted. We Lagosians suffered more than the rest of the country prior to 1999 and it was that our resolve never to allow that kind of suffering happen again in our land that has kept us on our toes in Lagos since 1999 when the amazingly talented Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over the rein from Col. Buba Marwa.

Today, our economy in Lagos is bigger than the economy of the whole of Ghana. Amongst our many feats in Lagos is the Lekki deep seaport, conceived 13 years ago by Asiwaju Tinubu, that recieved its first cargo ship this week. This deep seaport is the first in Nigeria and the best in West Africa.
You can draw inspiration from our success story in Lagos

If you are suffering in Nigeria now, it is because you have been outcompeted. You probably waste your time online and on social media.

While you stay online and lament, other young focused ambitious Nigerians are competing for the same opportunities you seek.

Those eventual winners do not have time for nairaland and the social media. They do not even have time for pity or lamentation party.

That you do not know how terrible and worse the Ghaniaians case is alone says a lot about how conversant you are about their state yet very quick to disparage my Fatherland.

Ghana redenominated their old cedis in 2007 by knocking off four zeros and between then and now their new cedis has lost value by over ten times such that one new cedi is an equivalent of 100K old cedis or more!

Thankfully, my late President Yardua stopped Prof. Soludo from that dangerous experiment of redenominating the naira and today naira has not been redenominated. My N100K in 2017 is not today worth N1 or less. I thank God and late HE Yardua for stopping Soludo.

Ghana was one of the countries that the IMF and others cancelled their debts completely unlike Nigeria that had to pay about $18 billion during the Pa Obj era yet today, Ghana is back in so much debt even more than it was before her debts were forgiven.

Between 2020 and last year, it was so bad for Ghana that they ran out of forex and had to be bailed out by IMF with $1 billion and Ghana is not yet out of the woods. Last Ghana inflation number was approximately 50% and still not abating amidst high unemployment and scarcity of goods and foods.


Their Ghana stock exchange is nothing to write home about yet this year 2022 alone, our own Nigeria Stock exchange has broken and exceeded the record it last reached before the 2018 global meltdown, printing money for local investors and one of the best in the world so far https://nairametrics.com/2022/07/03/nigerian-stock-market-end-first-half-of-2022-as-one-of-the-best-in-the-world/

Thank God that CBN under Emefiele blocked the useless fraudulent cryto ponzi, the favorite 'food' of lazy and gullible Nigerian youths, may be by now the fraudsters behind crypto and nfts would have killed the naira and most of the "greater fool" liquidated 80K crypto millionaires would have come from Nigeria!

Ghana struggles to pay us for the energy we export to them https://www.reuters.com/article/ghana-nigeria-gas-idUSL8N12K3NZ20151020 and when we closed our border, Ghana was on her knees economically and politically while their effort at frustrating some of our nationals in Ghana also backfired.

Ghana has a bizarre and very primitive business system that forbids a foreigner from registering a business and owning a company in their small country unlike Nigeria where CAC is very liberal.
Watch how many of them will get to Nigeria now and start their own businesses yet we do not discriminate against them. Nigeria is a big brother to Ghana and we have always bailed them out.

Ghanaians are in soup but thank God they have a big brother and a second home in Nigeria. The original and current traditional landowners in their capital are ethnic Yoruba who migrated to Ghana from Ile Ife like a century ago and they have since traced back their origin to Ile Ife where Ooni assured them that they will always be welcomed back home.

So while the Yoruba in Nigeria are doing well there are things the descendants of Yoruba in Ghana are not doing well but can always rediscover and get back on their feet.

Nigeria is a safe haven for Ghanaians and Nigeria is far far ahead of Ghana.
Meanwhile,here's free book on business ideas & money sources directory for you,it's 100% free! to download, read and use https://www.nairaland.com/6666800/looking-business-ideas-money-fund. Cheers.

You can't tax your way into economic recovery

Be more innovative

Ghana must go eventually turned to Ghana has come

Quintopia:


True. Soon we may see those frustrated Ghanaian traders targeting the more prosperous Nigerian merchants in the markets, and blaming them for the economic problems.

It already happened months back.

Ghanaians will start looting and killing Nigerians .Anything wrong with their country,na “Nijiria people caaaam cause kassala for Giihna”.

Nigerians,come back oh.
Let’s go the OBIdient way…we finally have hope for a better Nigeria!

zoedew:

It already happened months back.

Already commented before I saw yours.
Honestly,those people are worst than South Africans.
Very bitter with Nigerians.

zoedew:

It already happened months back.

I know, but it could get even worse now that their economy is in doldrums.

Quintopia:


Things are far cheaper in Nigeria than in Ghana dude.

You need to see how expensive things are in Ghana now, even food.

Boys are not smiling there at all.

Are you a buhari supporter?

Jack005:
Are you a buhari supporter?

What has Buhari got to do with anything?

So because you hate Buhari, you will claim Nigeria is doing worse than it actually is?

Quintopia:


What has Buhari got to do with anything?

So because you hate Buhari, you will claim Nigeria is doing worse than it actually is?

Nigeria is doing bad my friend. Why compare Nigeria to Ghana in the first place? Ghana does not have what Nigeria has at all

The question now how do we bring back our japa Kids that moved to Ghana and married Ghanian ladies can they return back.

Jack005:
Nigeria is doing bad my friend. Why compare Nigeria to Ghana in the first place? Ghana does not have what Nigeria has at all

You're wrong. Ghana actually has more resources than Nigeria for her population size. She is a major gold and cocoa exporter, and also exports oil and gas. She only has 25 million people, so the people there should have a very high standard of living. Where has all the money gone? And now she's on her knees to the IMF. I can't remember when last Nigeria approached the IMF for assistance. I think it was back in the days of military rule, with Babangida, around 30 years ago!!

And we all know the one-size-fits-all IMF solution - structural adjustment programmes which will force Ghana to devalue her currency, and open her economy to even more imports ('trade liberalization' as the IMF calls it) making her economy even more import-dependent and worsening industrial growth and unemployment.

Jack005:
Nigeria is doing bad my friend. Why compare Nigeria to Ghana in the first place? Ghana does not have what Nigeria has at all

you are arguing with a BMC ,you have strength i swear. Someone that have gone for brain transplants before engaging you.

Even Ghanaians want to become OBIdient!

They are willing to be part of history and good plans of the visionary leader Peter Obi.

GreatBoss:
Its like jumping from frying pan to fire.

Ghanians are not that dumb.

The impression you have about Nigeria is extreme and it can only mean that you do not appreciate what you have.


Nigerians are hustlers, bad or good government, Nigerians will always strive....

Ghanaians are lazy and they always hope and wait on the government to do everything for them. They don't want to suffer...

They have constant power supply but can't make anything good out of it.

Give Kano or Kaduna Abia state or Anambra or Lagos or Ogun states 20hours constant power supply daily and you will see development all round the country

FreeStuffsNG:

For most folks like you, you do not value what you have until you lose it.

That is why we do not take our successes in Lagos for granted. We Lagosians suffered more than the rest of the country prior to 1999 and it was that our resolve never to allow that kind of suffering happen again in our land that has kept us on our toes in Lagos since 1999 when the amazingly talented Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over the rein from Col. Buba Marwa.

Today, our economy in Lagos is bigger than the economy of the whole of Ghana. Amongst our many feats in Lagos is the Lekki deep seaport, conceived 13 years ago by Asiwaju Tinubu, that recieved its first cargo ship this week. This deep seaport is the first in Nigeria and the best in West Africa.
You can draw inspiration from our success story in Lagos

If you are suffering in Nigeria now, it is because you have been outcompeted. You probably waste your time online and on social media.

While you stay online and lament, other young focused ambitious Nigerians are competing for the same opportunities you seek.

Those eventual winners do not have time for nairaland and the social media. They do not even have time for pity or lamentation party.

That you do not know how terrible and worse the Ghaniaians case is alone says a lot about how conversant you are about their state yet very quick to disparage.

Ghana redenominated their old cedis in 2007 by knocking off four zeros and between then and now their new cedis has lost value by over ten times such that one new cedi is an equivalent of 100K old cedis or more!

Thankfully, my late President Yardua stopped Prof. Soludo from that dangerous experiment of redenominating the naira and today naira has not been redenominated. My N100K in 2017 is not today worth N1 or less. I thank God and late HE Yardua for stopping Soludo.

Ghana was one of the countries that the IMF and others cancelled their debts completely unlike Nigeria that had to pay about $18 billion during the Pa Obj era yet today, Ghana is back in so much debt even more than it was before her debts were forgiven.

Between 2020 and last year, it was so bad for Ghana that they ran out of forex and had to be bailed out by IMF with $1 billion and Ghana is not yet out of the woods. Last Ghana inflation number was approximately 30% and still not abating amidst high unemployment and scarcity of goods and foods.


Their Ghana stock exchange is nothing to write home about yet this year 2022 alone, our own Nigeria Stock exchange has broken and exceeded the record it last reached before the 2018 global meltdown, printing money for local investors.
Thank God that CBN under Emefiele blocked the useless fraudulent cryto ponzi, the favorite 'food' of lazy and gullible Nigerian youths, may be by now the fraudsters behind crypto and nfts would have killed the naira and most of the "greater fool" liquidated 80K crypto millionaires would have come from Nigeria!

Ghana struggles to pay us for the energy we export to them and when we closed our border, Ghana was on her knees economically and politically while their effort at frustrating some of our nationals in Ghana also backfired.

Ghana has a bizarre and very primitive business system that forbids a foreigner from registering a business and owning a company in their small country unlike Nigeria where CAC is very liberal.
Watch how many of them will get to Nigeria now and start their own businesses yet we do not discriminate against them. Nigeria is a big brother to Ghana and we have always bailed them out.

Ghanaians are in soup but thank God they have a big brother and a second home in Nigeria. The original and current traditional landowners in their capital are ethnic Yoruba who migrated to Ghana from Ile Ife like a century ago and they have since traced back their origin to Ile Ife where Ooni assured them that they will always be welcomed back home.

So while the Yoruba in Nigeria are doing well there are things the descendants of Yoruba in Ghana are not doing well but can always rediscover and get back on their feet.

Nigeria is a safe haven for Ghanaians and Nigeria is far far ahead of Ghana.

Thumps up bro,your write up is educating unlike some fools on this forum who write ethno- religious bigoted stuff here

Many of you guys know nothing.
It is more expensive to live in Ghana than in Nigeria. Nigeria is one of the cheapest African countries to actually inhabit.

JASONjnr:



The impression you have about Nigeria is extreme and it can only mean that you do not appreciate what you have.


Nigerians are hustlers, bad or good government, Nigerians will always strive....

Ghanaians are lazy and they always hope and wait on the government to do everything for them. They don't want to suffer...

They have constant power supply but can't make anything good out of it.

Give Kano or Kaduna Abia state or Anambra or Lagos or Ogun states 20hours constant power supply daily and you will see development all round the country

I have not seen a people as lazy as Ghanaians. All they know is SEX

kingthreat:
Many of you guys know nothing.
It is more expensive to live in Ghana than in Nigeria. Nigeria is one of the cheapest African countries to actually inhabit.

Its hell to live in a toxic society like naija where ethno-religeous views of its citizens keeps them down. How do you explain that a country with the highest deposit in gas and six producer of oil in the world can't boast of 2 hours of steady electricity nationwide in its over 60yrs of existence?

Bridget95:
I have not seen a people as lazy as Ghanaians. All they know is SEX

The last time they experienced a bad government, they move down to Nigeria and we had to use force to send them back. The very reason they're hating on us till date.

If they experience another bad leadership, they will cross many countries to settle in Nigeria again...

No mention of migrating to Nigeria in the article na.

Ghanaian women can come.

The rest should go back.

What’s this?

Some of u don’t even know that the level of corruption in Ghana is 2nd to none.

I once read an eye opening article about Ghana’s economy and the corrupt gold/cocoa market of Ghana+the Chinese exploiting Ghana’s huge resources. I was marvelled.

I think if Nigeria doesn’t get things right soonest we may go down with our economy too..Sri Lankan economy has felt it,Ghana is feeling it too.