Options for Export Diversification and Faster Export Growth in Ghana

This paper discusses how Ghana’s path to a middle income status does not have to be paved with only manufactured products. There are multiple paths and processed natural resources-based products are not necessarily a curse, and if Ghana wants and it builds the requisite capacity, it can turn them into an opportunity. This chapter suggests that one policy challenge for Ghana is to facilitate a comprehensive package of sector specific polices dedicated to fostering the technological capabilities and other nontradable public inputs necessary to potentially scale up 6 identified sectors. We also find that 3 of the 4 Presidential Special Initiative products––starch, salt, palm oil are efficient choices but the efficiency of textiles is unclear. Our analysis also indicates that when income enhancement is the objective, there is no blueprint for a diversification strategy.