Economies after Colonialism : Ghana and the Struggle for Power

Unpacking the puzzle of Ghana's struggle for economic development, Whitfield shows how the political legacies of colonialism cast a long and dark shadow over Ghana that also had implications for other African countries. This original interpretation is useful for researchers or students interested in the political economy of development in Africa.

Despite Ghana''s strong democratic track record in recent decades, the economy remains underdeveloped. Industrial policies are necessary to transform the colonial trading economy that Ghana inherited at independence, but successive governments have been unwilling or unable to implement them. In this highly original interpretation, supported by new empirical material, Lindsay Whitfield exposes the reasons for why the Ghanaian economy remains underdeveloped and sets her theory in the wider African context. She offers a new way of thinking about the political economy of Africa that charts a clear path away from defining Africa in terms of neopatrimonial politics and that provides new conceptual tools for addressing what kind of business-state relations are necessary to drive economic development. As a study of Ghana that addresses both the economy and politics from early colonialism to the present day, this is a must-read for any student or scholar interested in the political economy of development in Africa.