Ghana put up a poor performance in the 2018 World Economic Freedom rankings, placing 103 out of 159 countries.
The report, which is compiled by the Fraser Institute from the United States of America (USA), takes a critical look at how economic freedom impacts a country’s economic growth and per capita incomes around the world.
The report used a system of 42 data points to rank each country based on five broad areas.
They took into consideration the size of government, legal system and property rights, freedom to trade internationally, sound money, and regulation.
A Fraser Institute Resident Fellow and holder of the Dr. Michael A. Walker Chair in Economic Freedom, Fred McMahon, made a presentation on Improving Ghana’s Rank on the Economic Freedom of the World Index at IMANI’s Audit of Ghana’s Economic Freedom on Monday in Accra.
McMahon attributed the decline in Ghana’s economic freedom to the nation’s infrastructure.
He mentioned the size of government and setbacks in workforce regulation as reasons for the decline.
Ghana’s ranking of 103 puts it at the bottom of the grouping, and its lack of economic freedom can be partially blamed on poverty rates and overall condition of life.
Mr McMahon said that “Economic freedom is profoundly important when you look around the world, it’s the economically free nations that have produced the best lives for their citizens.”
He added that economic freedom is the foundation for political and civil freedom which will lead to national growth and broader human development.
According to him, in economically free nations like Singapore, South Korea, the poorest 10 percent make $11,000 per capita income per year compared to $1,000 per capita income for the 10 percent of the poorest in least economically free countries.
“Economic freedom is basically the ability of families or individuals to make decisions about their own economic life without control by the government.
“It helps create a society where each person can get ahead while making others better off by producing goods and services that others will voluntarily buy.
McMahon said that expanding Ghana’s exports will create a more prosperous and free economy.
He said, “Ghanaian businesses and workers need the seven or eight billion people in the world as their market place not just the 30 million people in the relatively poor nation of Ghana. By trading with the world, Ghana can become rich.”
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