Economic Relations Between China And Ghana:History, Current Trends And Expectations

In this new era of fast technological transformation of the global village, Africa has drawn increasing concern around the world. Lands and agriculture resources, rich underground of mineral resources, unique cultural and tourism resources are powerful agents of fast economic growth and new trade market discoveries. Commodity market, raw material and favorable investment locations place African Countries in an important position in the world market. In the international relations, African countries like Ghana have also been a significant political force.Relationships between China and Ghana were formally established in the 1950s but trade and cooperation date back over 100years. Recently, as China’s economy has continued to grow and transform the country into a major global player in all spheres, it has become clear that China needs to secure reliable sources of resources to support its economic development. China and Ghana through the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation FOCAC are beneficiaries of a new era of deep economic and trade relation featuring political equality and mutual trust, economic win-win cooperation and cultural exchanges.Ghana just like many African countries is important to China as a vast source of resources to feed its growing manufacturing base, as well as a source of energy security. China’s interest in Ghana however is not only confined to economics but extend to diplomacy as well. China is attempting to position itself as an important power in the international system and, in so doing, promote its own views and policies within international multilateral organizations. It is therefore contended that China’s presence in Ghana and on the African continent presents both opportunities as well as threats, although African governments need to be pro-active in order to exploit the potential opportunities. It obviously provides an opportunity for Ghana to induce technological changes and transform the structure of the country’s economy to lay the foundation for high and sustained growth.Against this background some still hold the view that China is not really interested in African countries’development, but is just one of the predators on one hand hungry for international power and fame and on the other seeking for cheap sources of raw materials and energy to run its industries. Is this true, and if so, is that Africa about to fall back into another era of neo-colonialism? Is China not taking advantage of a poorer country to get richer while Ghana’s economic condition remains the same or even deteriorates? This paper examines these critical viewpoints and seeks to provide answers to such criticisms using Ghana-China trade as a case study.There are still other concerns which the paper has also studied, such as how can Ghana make good use of most of the possibilities and address the challenges which China brings for poverty reduction and development at large? How can the country make better use of bilateral cooperation to further its long-run development objectives? To what extent is China in Ghana following a different approach than Europe and the US? Or rather have China and Africa just found their suitable partners they have longed for all this while?Finally, the expansion of the Sino-Ghana partnership has greater opportunities achievable through the exploration of new investment targets for both partners. There is a need to invest in searching for new opportunities which have the potential of projecting this partnership to a higher level. For the future of the Sino-Ghana partnership new opportunities and approaches are essential.