Abstract
Ghana’s hopes of increasing export trade volumes and destinations to domestic economies within the African continent in order to foster growth and climb the economic ladder to become a middle income country is very much achievable. However, this objective to a great extent depends on regional integration and cooperation rather than the efforts of one single country or economy. Intermediary influencers such as distance play a major role in determining export destinations for Ghana, whilst endogenous issues like customs procedures and border related issues, tariffs and import quotas, and trade restrictions within the importing countries heavily affect Ghana’s trade volumes and destinations within the region. Thus the establishment of robust economic bodies and platforms to institutionalize universal trade regulations and reforms to enhance effective trade among member countries and reduce trade transactional processes, lengthy customs procedures and trade restrictions will not only affect Ghana positively but all other domestic economies within the region. Enjoying an effective export trade will also come as a result of the continent investing heavily in infrastructural development, complemented with effective transportation systems, better service provision via advanced technologies and human capital development.
Highlights
IntroductionGhana seeks to increase its export destinations to many countries within Africa and beyond and it is very imperative to assess the various ways by which the country can realize this ambition by looking at the trend of Ghana’s export des-
In terms of foreign markets, the country has mainly benefited from its trade relations with Asian countries such as China, India and the United Arab Emirates whilst it has profited from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which allows for more than six thousand products to enter the market of the United States of America duty and quota free from member countries (Tralac, 2020)
According to the World Trade Organization (WTO, 2008), Ghana’s export to the United States of America had increased by a significant 14.7% the latest trends seem to show that exports to developed countries have shifted to developing countries which has led to reduction in the total number of exports to developed countries
Summary
Ghana seeks to increase its export destinations to many countries within Africa and beyond and it is very imperative to assess the various ways by which the country can realize this ambition by looking at the trend of Ghana’s export des-. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO, 2008), Ghana’s export to the United States of America had increased by a significant 14.7% the latest trends seem to show that exports to developed countries have shifted to developing countries which has led to reduction in the total number of exports to developed countries. This scenario is evident with China, India and the United Arab Emirates assuming a combined 36.4% of Ghana’s export volumes in 2019 (Trading Economics, 2020). One major institution whose association is helping to boost Ghana’s ambition towards achieving a robust intra-regional trade is the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). An improvement of the overall economic integration of African economies will help Ghana expand its export destinations, boost Gross National Product and overall be able to secure the objective of attaining a middle income status
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