Premium Essay

Globalization, Employment and Poverty in Ghana

In: Business and Management

Submitted By ssarps
Words 17946
Pages 72
GLOBALIZATION, EMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY IN GHANA Ernest Aryeetey1

1.

INTRODUCTION

One of the most significant influences on the performance of the economy of Ghana in the last two decades has been derived from the greater interaction between it and other economies. Thus, following economic reforms that focused considerably on opening the economy to greater and freer external trade, globalization has been a major aspect of the economy and society. But this influence has been observed not only in the area of external trade; it is seen also in terms of capital flows, aid, technology transfer, international migration, etc. All of these have seen significant expansion in the period of reforms, even if this has been on a scale far smaller than in South East Asia and the other faster growing developing economies.

Globalization has definitely created opportunities for various parts of the economy to gain access to larger pools of resources as well as markets. While this may generally be perceived to have impacted positively on the beneficiaries, there are also indications that globalization has introduced new risks to environments that were hitherto closed to those risks. The increased risk may, in some cases, have accentuated poverty and worsened income distribution in parts of the country.

While poverty has always been generally closely associated with the condition of African states, its link with globalization is a more recent development, and is much less understood. The relationship between globalization and poverty is obscured by the fact that for long poverty was more generally associated with rural economies and societies than urban ones, while globalization was expected to reflect the transactions of the more urban sections of African societies. But there are indications that urban poverty is growing and the links between rural and urban economies are

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Ghana Tuc Policy

...125 [pic]GHANA TRADES UNION CONGRESS MEDIUM TERM POLICIES FOR THE QUADRENNIAL 2008 -2012 [DRAFT] GHANA TRADES UNION CONGRESS Contents PART 1 3 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 3 Challenges at the International Level 3 Challenges at the National Level 4 Challenges at the workplace 8 PART 2 10 GHANA TUC’S PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRACY 10 Human Development Objectives 12 Democratic Participation in Decision-Making 14 PART 3 17 POLICIES 17 POLICY ON LABOUR RELATIONS AND SOCIAL DIALOGUE 17 POLICY ON EDUCATION AND TRAINING 20 POLICY ON ORGANISATION, INTERNAL DEMOCRACY AND SOLIDARITY 22 POLICY ON EMPLOYMENT 28 POLICY ON INCOMES 30 POLICY ON INFORMAL ECONOMY 32 POLICY ON SOCIAL PROTECTION 35 POLICY ON HOUSING 38 POLICY ON GENDER EQUALITY 40 POLICY ON CHILD LABOUR 42 POLICY ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, HEALTH AND ENVIROMENT 44 POLICY ON HIV/AIDS 46 POLICY ON ENERGY AND POWER 49 POLICY ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 52 POLICY ON THE YOUTH ……………………………………………………………… PART 1 _________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) has gone through very difficult challenges since it was established in 1945. Nevertheless, it has maintained its identity and continues to grow stronger. Currently, Ghana TUC has seventeen affiliates with an estimated membership...

Words: 15311 - Pages: 62

Premium Essay

Arguments for Globalisation

...ASSIGNMENT WEEK 2 Globalization in the twentieth and twenty first century is usually analyzed from an economic or technological perception, that is the internet, international markets and global institutions such as IMF, WTO cable news etc. The impact of globalization on the economies of countries across the world whether developed or developing cannot be over emphasized. An important ingredient in globalization is trade liberalization. . Economic liberalization is the process of achieving unobstructed economic activities, it seeks to remove all hindrances to trade, production and investment, whiles emphasizing on the freedom of economic activities (Onyekpe, 2001:52, Akinboye, 2008). In this light I will want to associate myself with the argument brought forward by Peter Mandelson in support of globalization. Globalization can be described as a “double edged sword”. Countries and companies which are prepared can take advantage of the opportunities that it brings on the other hand, globalization is not ready to “forgive” countries or companies who are not prepared to take the dynamics of globalization. Even the developed countries in Europe and the USA cannot afford to be complacent in the face of globalization. Peter Mandelson has done a good job in explaining both positive and negative effects of globalization in his defense of globalization. Peter Mandelson analyzed the impact of globalization under six headings namely, the openness boom, the interlinked world, the challenges...

Words: 1834 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Effects of Globalization in Africa

...Globalization has indeed brought a lot changes in the International System which does constitute smaller actors like those from the third world countries especially Africa. Globalization can be said to be a unitarization factor of the world hence making the world look like one whole entity. Globalization has both positive and negative impacts to Africa as a continent. It is no doubt that globalization has promoted greater respect for human rights, democracy, liberalized trading, technology, and contributed to the development of African press. This has strongly opened African countries to far greater scrutiny than in the past, making life hard for African governments to get away with excessive and blatant abuses of democratic leadership governance and transparency. Moreover, the technological revolution presupposes the free movement of goods, information, and people across national boundaries. It has an effect on employment patterns worldwide by the contribution to a great deal of outsourcing which is one of the best organizational and industry structure shifts these changes the way business operates. Further, Globalization is changing organizational structures where expenses can move up or down as the business climate dictates. In terms of positive economic opportunities globalization is the establishment of new economic opportunities for corporations, small businesses, through the access to global markets. Kenya has benefited from globalization by increasing the share of exports...

Words: 3766 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Discuss the Advantages and Disadvantages of Globalization

...DISCUSS THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF GLOBALIZATION The world as we know it has evolved over the years. From times when communities thought they were alone through periods when they depended on one another through trade to today when it is considered to be a global village. Over time the interdependent nature of countries across the world has gained prominence, hence the coinage of the term Globalization. Globalization is defined as the tendency for the world economy to work as one unit, led by large international companies doing business all over the world (Longman Business English Dictionary 2000). There has been many views concerning globalization. Whereas some people are of the opinion that it is good and are in favour of promoting and supporting it, others see globalization as detrimental to the world in general. This essays will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of globalization. The idea of globalization is an old one and can be traced back to the days when nations fought to create empires. The Babylonians and Romans through the conquest of weaker nations to formed huge empires thereby setting large single economies. These however did not extend to the global level as is happening now. As Ellwood (2001, p.21) noted, globalization is a new word which describes an old process: the integration of the global economy that began in earnest with the launch of the colonial era five centuries ago. The aim of colonization was to establish new sources of raw materials...

Words: 1477 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Causes of African Immigration to the United States of America

...of migration is a vast subject for research. Unlike the other countries the growing number of immigrants from African countries is entering the stream of immigration to United States. The history of African migration begins with slavery. The post war political economy considerably promoted the African immigrants to prefer United States as their major destination. United States has been highly benefited for decades by the African immigrants to gain all its achievements. The nation today includes people from all parts of the world, with a variety of race, complexion, beliefs and ethnicity which have made the nation an agglomeration of various cultures. The noteworthy reasons for this inundation could be categorized as historic reasons, globalization, civil wars and human rights violations, labor shortage in The US, immigration policies, and economic instability in home land. Historic elements contribute to migration The condition that brought Africans to the land of America was entirely different from that of today. The first Africans were not influenced by ‘the push pulls’ factors but they were taken by force as slaves. The arrival of African slaves greatly impacted the socio, economic culture of United States. “By the mid 1800s people of African decent were craftsmen, teamsters, porters, and domestic as well as...

Words: 1044 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Tertiary Education

...secondary education, of which the usual entrance age is about 18 years, and in which the courses lead to the giving of a named award (degree, diploma, or certificate of higher studies). In the current knowledge-based economy and the globalization phenomenon, tertiary education plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of the nation. It has a key role to play in the creation, dissemination and application of knowledge, production of human capital as well as the development of skills and adaptation of knowledge to meet developmental needs. It also has a role to play in the strengthening of the entire education system and fostering synergies in the entire economy. (Report on the President’s Committee on Review of Education Reforms in Ghana (2002). Obiageli Ezekwesili, World Bank’s Vice-President for Africa, asserted to this fact in her speech citing Ghana specifically. She said: “Universities need to pay more attention to the quality and relevance of higher education to economic growth and competitiveness.” She added that Ghana was “the perfect example of how expansion of access to higher education is interlinked with solid economic growth and sharp declines in poverty”. Brief Overview of Tertiary Education in Ghana Tertiary education in Ghana dates back to the early 1940s when Mr. Justice Asquith was appointed by the British government to investigate the...

Words: 2318 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Why Do Some Countries Fail to Thrive? Critically Evaluate One or Two Policies Aimed at Boosting Growth & Aiding Development. Critically Evaluate One or Two Policies Aimed at Boosting Growth & Aiding Development.

...economic growth and development. Globalization is a process of international economic integration effecting output of goods and services, input of capital and labor and aiding diffusion of knowledge and information. Breaking artificial barriers for goods and services in the last two decades has had a positive affect on development. Many countries have had successful economics growth and better standards of living due to increases in exports measured through increase in GDP. Even with better economic integration in the last two decades some countries still fail to thrive and benefit from globalization. Yet still some economies fail to thrive. There are many issues that can be looked at to understand why some countries have not developed quickly and efficiently as others. According to Jeffrey Sachs 2005 book ‘The end of poverty’; the richest countries in the world are ahead by two decades in relation to growth and economic gains. Poorer economies have suffered greatly due to poverty and geographical barriers such as famine and pandemics. Other issues such as political instability and collapsed governments have been a central focus point of many critics. I will analyse factors that have hampered growth in developing economies with supporting evidence. Political instability impedes on growth, as there is level of uncertainty in the economy and generally a feeling of pessimism in these periods. This discourages investments and FDI as well as affecting employment rates significantly. Egypt...

Words: 3277 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Debating the Merits of Globalisation

...Case Study 1 – Debating the Merits of Globalisation Q1.) After studying the case study, it is clear that there are a number of drawbacks to globalisation. Hill (2014), describes globalisation as the merging of historically distinct and separate national markets into one huge ‘global marketplace’. Firstly, the case study argues that globalisation has had detrimental effects on the natural environment. An increase in transport between countries due to international trade has resulted in increased CO2 emissions. Huwart et al (2013) argues that the aeroplane has been the main mode of transport to characterise globalisation, seeing an increase in greenhouse gas emissions by 86% between 1990 and 2004 due to aviation. However, globalisation is not only effecting the natural environment, it’s also using up it’s finite resources more quickly. For example, China joined the world trade organisation in December 2001. By 2008, it’s coal use had doubled (Tverberg, 2013). The next drawbacks according to the case study are: local job losses (leading to devastation in local economies), exploited workers in LEDC’s and child labour. Globalisation transfers jobs from developed countries to less developed countries – known as offshoring. Cavusgil et al (2013:76) defines offshoring as “the relocation of manufacturing and other value-chain activities to cost effective locations abroad.” E.g. In the US, the % of US citizens with jobs began to drop around roughly the same time China joined the WTO...

Words: 2836 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Student

...IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON THE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FUNCTION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A CASE STUDY OF KENYA PUBLIC CORPORATIONS Hazel Gachoka Gachunga1 Abstract Globalization has a major impact on the management of human resources in developing countries including Kenya. It has led to homogenization and convergence in organization strategies, structures and processes as well as in consumer choice. With accelerating globalization, organizations have had to change and new trends have set in even in the management of human resources. Globalization has led to changes in organization design and organization structures are leaner thus improving efficiency but having a negative impact on staff numbers which have had to be reduced. This means employees have been retrenched in many sectors like telecommunications, the Kenya Railways and the Kenya public service sectors in order for those organizations to gain competitive advantage. Reward management systems have changed and even the human resource planning strategy is to have a leaner staff in the core areas and to hire part time workers in a bid to reduce costs and to enable the business to run profitably and efficiently. The non-core jobs have been outsourced which has led to an increase in independent contractors to service industries. However, the homogeneity that results from globalization has had a major effect in developing countries because of brain drain. Globalization can therefore be said to have had a phenomenal impact...

Words: 7511 - Pages: 31

Premium Essay

Impact of Hrm

...IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON THE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT FUNCTION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A CASE STUDY OF KENYA PUBLIC CORPORATIONS Hazel Gachoka Gachunga1 Abstract Globalization has a major impact on the management of human resources in developing countries including Kenya. It has led to homogenization and convergence in organization strategies, structures and processes as well as in consumer choice. With accelerating globalization, organizations have had to change and new trends have set in even in the management of human resources. Globalization has led to changes in organization design and organization structures are leaner thus improving efficiency but having a negative impact on staff numbers which have had to be reduced. This means employees have been retrenched in many sectors like telecommunications, the Kenya Railways and the Kenya public service sectors in order for those organizations to gain competitive advantage. Reward management systems have changed and even the human resource planning strategy is to have a leaner staff in the core areas and to hire part time workers in a bid to reduce costs and to enable the business to run profitably and efficiently. The non-core jobs have been outsourced which has led to an increase in independent contractors to service industries. However, the homogeneity that results from globalization has had a major effect in developing countries because of brain drain. Globalization can therefore be said to have had a phenomenal impact...

Words: 7511 - Pages: 31

Premium Essay

Globalization and Food System-Impact on Food Security and Nutrition.

...TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................... 02 2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK............................................................................ 02 3. GLOBALIZATION OF FOOD SYSTEMS IN CONTEXT................................ 03 a. Urbanization.................................................................................................. 03 b. Economics, health and education................................................................. 04 c. Employment................................................................................................... 05 d. Technology and facilitating mechanisms..................................................... 06 4. CHANGES IN DIETARY PATTERNS ............................................................... 07 a. Dietary convergence ..................................................................................... 07 b. Dietary adaptation ....................................................................................... 08 i. Lifestyle changes and adaptation of meal patterns........................... 08 ii. Street foods......................................................................................... 09 iii. Supermarkets .............................................................................

Words: 6445 - Pages: 26

Premium Essay

A Relationship Between Current Globalisation, Unemployment, Inequality and Poverty

...globalisation, unemployment, inequality and poverty Wilfred I. Ukpere and Andre D. Slabbert Faculty of Business, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Cape Town, South Africa Abstract Purpose – This paper contends that there is a positive relationship between current globalisation, unemployment, inequality and poverty, which paves a vista for further academic discourse. Design/methodology/approach – As a meta-analytical study, the paper relied on secondary data. It is a qualitative study, which is based on conceptual analysis, theory building and “emic” perspective (authors’ viewpoint). Findings – A relationship between current globalisation, unemployment, inequality and poverty should be investigated further. Unemployment increases levels of inequality and poverty within society. Although bequeathed with various names and definitions, the logics of current globalisation seem to have exacerbated the problem of global unemployment, the corollary of which is endemic inequality and poverty. Practical implications – Increases in income inequality and poverty over the past decades, can be attributed to globalisation. Therefore, within the domain of unemployment, inequality and poverty in the era of globalisation, renewed problems of global competition, job termination, wage reductions, labour immobility and technological displacement of workers, have accelerated the rate of global unemployment, the corollary of which is endemic inequality and poverty. Originality/value – The originality...

Words: 4944 - Pages: 20

Free Essay

Rethinking the Informal Economy

...labour markets in developing countries is markedly different from that in the developed countries. The most striking feature of labour markets in the developing countries is its non-homogeneous character. The status of the vast majority of workers in the developed countries is of wage and salary earners. Whereas in the developing countries there is a predominance of self-employment. This non-homogeneous character of labour markets in developing countries also implies that the nature of employment and the manner in which it is created is different in the two world’s. In the developing countries the vast majority of the population is left to fend for itself and create employment out of its own ingenuity, skills and capital. This leads to vast differences in the nature of employment and the creation of dualistic structure of ‘formal’and ‘informal’ components of the labour market. A large proportion of the workforce is in the unorganised or informal sector. These workers are engaged in economic activities with lower productivity resulting in lower incomes. They are also engaged in activities with less stable employment contracts (including the self-employed) and fewer social security benefits. While the wages and salaries of the formal sector workers are periodically revised to counter inflation. No such benefits accrue to the large proportion of workers in the unorganised sector. Inspite of growing literature on the informal sector, there are several gaps not only with respect...

Words: 9126 - Pages: 37

Premium Essay

International Business

...Introduction This Report is based on portfolio background information based around SQUARE Pharma and current trading environment including export-Import trends of SQUARE, FDI prospects and challenges, global production, globalization and its impact in business, research and development of SQUARE and Ethical issues involved in international business. As SQUARE is the top local pharmaceuticals company of Bangladesh so we have chosen it for our report so that we can have a wider view of our concern topics. Basically what we want to cover is the current export situation of the company, the problem that it is facing and solutions they are applying. Besides these we have also recommended some suggestions from our end which can be applied for the betterment of their export business. Objectives We have divided the objective of this report into two parts. One is general and the other is more specific. These objectives are stated below: ❖Primary objectives: Basically our initial objective was to complete the assigned task of term paper for the course of International Business. The topic with which we were assigned was identifying problems and solution of a particular company of export-import industry of Bangladesh. While completing this task firstly we have chosen SQUARE Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Bangladesh because it is the topmost local pharmaceuticals in our country. ❖Secondary objectives: Main focus of our report was to study the areas as follows: 1. To know about the SQUARE Pharmaceuticals...

Words: 5437 - Pages: 22

Free Essay

Ghana and Companies

...INTRODUCTION Grace Kennedy was established 88 years ago as a small privately owned trading company. Since that time it has expanded and diversified and become a publicly traded conglomerate with 60 subsidiaries involved in several industries including financial, insurance, remittance, hardware retailing, food processing and food distribution. These subsidiaries are spread throughout the Caribbean and the United Kingdom. In 1995 Grace Kennedy formulated its 2020 vision with the objective to transform itself from a Jamaican trading company to a global consumer group with roots in Jamaica. 2006 saw this vision being broadened as the company undertook a strategic reorganization under the theme “designing Grace Kennedy for the 21st century,” aimed at expanding operations within the Caribbean and internationally improving efficiency, innovation and profitability. Through its subsidiary Grace Foods, Grace Kennedy has established itself as the Caribbean’s largest supplier of Caribbean and other ethnic foods to over 38 countries globally; with retail presence throughout the Caribbean, the United States and the United Kingdom. GK Foods’ culture of innovation over the years has allowed it to respond positively to market adjustments with adjustments of its own in regards to its product offerings and cost saving operations. Grace Foods operates through eleven subsidiary companies and independent distributors selling products including beverages, canned meats and fish, chips, coconut...

Words: 7984 - Pages: 32