Western Region, a paradox of a region in Ghana: the Way ForwardA Paper presented by Toni Aubynn, Head, Corporate Affairs and Social Development

Gold Fields Ghana at the Takoradi as Part of the Ghana @ 50 Celebrations1

The Western Region is one of the 10 political regions in Ghana, having been carved out, in the early 1960s, from the Western Province of the colonial era, splitting the Province into modern day Central and the Western Regions. From academic papers and popular journalism, the Western Region has been variously described: in positive terms as “the potential paradise of Ghana” because of its rich nature, “the finger that feeds Ghana” because of its significant contributions to the economic development of the country; “the potential paragon of development” and the “el Dorado of Ghana,” because of its profuse endowment of natural and human resources. Indeed people from the Region have always prided themselves with the accolade “the best comes from the West.” Yet, the region has also been described in negative terms as well. Some have described it as “the Region of paradox-- heavily endowed but acutely poor, hosting both the worst and the best of all things.”

The central purpose of this paper is not to rehears the litany of problems of the Region, (for a lot has already been written and said about the problems of the Region) but to provide a perspective, as an indigene of the region, on ways to foster the development of the region. In other words, this paper seeks to answer the question: 50 years of Ghana’s independence and Forty-seven years of regionhood, what is the way forward for the Western Region? How do we forge the sustainable development of the Region?

In addressing the subject, I will first give a brief overview of the Region including its physical and socio-economic characteristics. In doing so, I will be underlining the strengths, and the hidden as well as overt potentials of the region. I will then proceed to examine some of the development challenges of the region and provide some perspectives on the way forward.

Brief overview and economic potentials

The fourth in size of the 10 regions of Ghana, and Western Region covers about 10 per cent of the total area of the country. It is located in the south-western part of Ghana, bordered by Ivory Coast on the west, Central Region on the east, Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo Regions on the north and on the south by 192 km of coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. The southernmost part of Ghana, Cape Three Points, near Busua, is in the Ahanta West District of the region. The region has about 75 per cent of its vegetation within the high forest zone of Ghana. The south-western areas of the region are noted for their rain forest, interspersed with patches of mangrove forest along the coast and coastal wetlands, while a large expanse of high tropical forest and semi-deciduous forest is also found in the northern part of the region. The Region has 24 forest reserves, which account for about

1 The opinions expressed in this paper are entirely that of the author’s and Gold Fields has no responsibility whatsoever for the content and shortcomings of the paper

40 per cent of the forest reserves in the country. Prominent among them are the Bia Reserve, Cape Three Points National Park, and the Ankasa/Nini Suhyien Forest and Game Reserve. According to the Ghana Forestry Inventory Project (GFIP), Western region has 100 per cent (346sq.km) of Ghana’s “excellent’ quality forest and 93 per cent of Ghana’s Genetic Heat Index (GHI) greater than 200.2 This signifies that Western Region is not only biologically rich, but contains most of the country’s rare biological species.

In terms of climate, the Region lies in the equatorial climatic zone that is characterised by moderate temperatures, ranging from 22°C at nightfall to 34°C during the day. The Region is the wettest part of Ghana, with a double maxima rainfall pattern averaging 1,600 mm per annum. The two rainfall peaks fall between May-July and September/October. In addition to the two major rainy seasons, the region also experiences intermittent minor rains all the year round. This high rainfall regime creates much moisture culminating in high relative humidity, ranging from 70 to 90 per cent in most parts of the region.

God has blessed the region with considerable natural resources, which give it a significant economic importance within the context of national development. Currently the Region tops in the production of cocoa, rubber and coconut. It is also one of the well suited areas for oil-palm production and ranks second in oil palm production in the country. The Benso Oil Palm Plantation, owned by Unilever Ghana Limited, is one of the largest in the country and the Region still holds the potential for major commercial productions of vegetable oil palms such as coconut and palm oil, both of which have the potential of outpacing cocoa revenue and foreign exchange earnings. The rich tropical forest makes it one of the largest producers of raw and sawn timber as well as processed wood products. Ladies and Gentlemen: The rich mineral endowment of the region deserves special attention. For more than a century, since the beginning of colonisation in Ghana, there has been the mining of metallic mineral ores, notably gold, manganese and bauxite in the Western region notably in the Tarkwa area. The mining operations, particularly gold mining, were artisanal, with many small exploratory excavations seeking and following the concretion through edit cuts into the laterites.

Today, it is estimated that only 0.5 per cent of the total land area of Ghana is under some form of mining concession over 80 per cent of which total mining area is located in a narrow stretch of the Western Region. Presently, about 21 percent of the total land area of the Western Region is under some form of mining concession.3 Even though the Region’s total geological profile and mineral potential are yet to be fully determined it is home to over 30 per cent of Ghana’s gold, and all its manganese and bauxite. The proven but yet-to

2 GHI is International Commission on Biodiversity’s measure of quality of biodiversity. The higher the index the richer, in rare species, the area is

3 The total land area of the Western region is about 24,000sqkm.

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be exploited iron deposits at Oppong Manso is also estimated to have about 25 per cent of exploitable bauxite that can be a valuable by-product if the iron deposits are exploited. Diamond mining is for most part, relatively small-scale. Indeed, the Bonsa River Basin used to be an active site for small-scale mining of alluvia diamond between the 1940s and 1970s when exploitation of the deposits declined and. The Bonsa basin is still believed to be prospective in diamonds.

The largest known potential deposits of gas and crude oil in Ghana that are close to possible economic exploitation is found in the Tano Basin and offshore in the Jomoro (Western Nzema) District. The same district has high quality limestone and fine sand deposits upon which the country’s cement and glass industries can rely.

Incidentally, the region has the highest concentration of mining operations in Ghana, being home to nine of the countries 16 producing mines employing hundreds or thousands of people and using heavy capital and technology. Virtually, all the mining companies are 90 per cent privately owned limited liability companies with mother-companies domicile abroad, notably in USA, Australia, South Africa, Canada and South Africa. In line with the government’s privatisation policy, the government owns only a 10 per cent statutory share.

The other group of mining operators are the small-scale ones, legalised since 1989 by the small-scale mining law. Small-scale miners, often individuals or small co-operative groups, use relatively little or no capital. It is estimated that the region accounts for over 50 per cent of the small-scale gold mining concessions in the country. This involved about 120 concessions mainly concentrated within about 40 kilometre-radius in the Wassa West district. Their activities are co-ordinated by the various offices of the Small-Scale Gold Mining Centres establish by the government following the legalisation of small-scale mining. There is however, a large segment of illicit mining operators within the small-scale sector, locally known as galamsey or keshe.4 Statistical data on this sector is very difficult to verify but it is believed that the galamsey or keshe sector dominates the entire small-scale gold mining operations and may be the largest employer within the entire gold mining industry in the Western region. It is estimated that between 50,000 and 100,000 are directly employed by this informal sector. The small-scale mining group usually use sparse equipment for surface mining and generally operate surface or near surface gold in non-consolidated materials associated with alluvial or fluvial deposit.

The region as a whole contributes close to half of Ghana’s foreign exchange earnings through its production and export of timber, cocoa and minerals. The preponderance of mining activities in the Western region naturally provides the basis of the region’s economic development, generating upwards of 60 per cent of its GDP and export value, far exceeding receipts from agriculture, forestry, fishery and tourism. Nevertheless, mining is by no means the major occupations of the people of the Region, contrary to

4 Galamsey is an adulterated English word for ‘gather them and sell.’ Keshe is a local Hausa language word for ‘kill it.’ These metaphors are used to indicate the scattered nature of gold resource that can be gathered discretely and thoroughly, and sold, in defiance of state security forces.

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popular believe. It employs less than 4% of the Region’s labour force (and about 10% of the Wassa West district where mining is predominant) as compared to about 60% in agriculture including fishing, animal husbandry and hunting, 15% in manufacturing and transport work, 10% in wholesales and retail work and 5% in professional and technical work.

In terms of human resources, the region has a total estimated population of 1.3 million with the highest concentration in the mining district of Wassa West administrative district. About half of the population is economically active with literacy rates (57%) exceeding the national average of 53%. Relative to the enrolment at the national level, the region enrols over 75% of its primary school-going children, into schools. Sadly, less than 10% of this number makes it to the tertiary level. It also needs to be said that a good number of Ghana’s outstanding academics, artists, politicians and business people either hail from the region as indegenes or spent a significant portion of their formative years in the Regions. There is no-gainsaying that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president was indigene, true and true of this region. People before him such as Dr. Amoo of Axim, Paa Grant, Kobina Sekyi, Nana Kobena Nkestia of Essikado are among the few illustrious sons and daughters of the Region through their selfless service to Ghana continue to make people of this region proud.

In contemporary times, names such as the late Dr. Limann (former president of Ghana), Prof. Atta-Mills, former vice president of Ghana, the famous Ghana neurosurgeon, Dr. Mustafa and a countless number of them spent a considerable amount of their formative periods in the region. Presently, a good number (perhaps the highest number) of President Kufuors senior government officials are from the Western Region: Hon Papa Owusu Ankomah, Hon Horner-Sam, Hon Angela Baiden Amissah, Hon Fredy Blay, Hon Joe Baidoo-Ansah, Hon Joe Ghartey, Rt. Hon Sekyi Hews, the late Chief Justice Acquah, The Governor of Bank of Ghana etc

Ladies and Gentlemen: the point I have been trying to emphasis here is that the Western Region is a region of God, blessed with a shoal of resources that need effective and efficient harnessing to ensure that the benefits are equitably distributed to the peoples of the region. In the view of some, economists have that the economic survival of Ghana will depend on what Governments will do to, and how they will treat, the Western Region. The late Dr. Kofi Diaw, a son of this Region and a scholar at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana) describes the Western Region as the el Dorado and the finger that feeds the mouth of Ghana

However, in spite of the vast economic potential of the region, the Western Region is beset with a myriad of development challenges that require serious strategic thinking and concerted efforts to address. The same spectrum of development needs and challenges exist in this highly endowed Western Region as in other, relatively less endowed areas of Ghana and many basic human development statistics are no better than here in the Western Region than the other regions. I will spend a brief moment now to look at some of the challenges:

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Development Challenges

Infrastructure: Ladies and Gentlemen, efficient infrastructure is a sine qua non to effective development. Unfortunately, the Western Region lags behind the two other industrial regions of Greater Accra and Ashanti in terms of economic infrastructure development. I must admit that the Region has seen considerable infrastructure improvement in the last two decades. There were times when traveling beyond the main highway of Cape Coast-Takoradi-Tarkwa to Sefwi, Wassa, Nzema and Aowin was as if one was going to the end of the world. The term “Nzema road” or “Sefwi road,” which became an epitome of how worse any road network can be, seem to have faded into oblivion in recent times. Nevertheless, the road network in the region continues to be in a terrible shape leading to cocoa and food crops being locked up in the interior of the region for lack of accessibility during the rainy season. Much worse is the rail transport system which used to facilitate the transportation of goods and people, export of bauxite, manganese, timber and timber products and cocoa through the port at Takoradi. Presently the line from Takoradi to Kumasi and Awaso, known as the Western Line, is the only barely functional long-distance section of Ghana’s railway system. That line is arguably being kept alive by the bauxite and manganese companies operating in the region.

There are several other challenges in the area of education, health, agriculture that we will not be able to delve deeply into for want of time. The question is how do we address the challenges? The next and final part of this presentation provides some practical perspectives on the question:

The Way Forward

The proposals presented below are based on my view of ‘development’ as a process of transformation of society which entails qualitative improvements in living levels as well as quantitative change in economic production. Indeed in recent times we don’t talk only about development, we talk about—sustainable development, that is, development that takes on its wings quality, equity and longevity. Development that looks after the present generation and thinks positively about the ability of the future generations to meet their needs. To me development is not automatic it must be deliberately spurned; it does not just occur it must be orchestrated. In light of the above the following proposals are presented:

Regional economic forum: It is proposed that the WRCC organises a forum to share ideas and thoughts that will lead to the development of a holistic and comprehensive development plan for the region

One of the outcomes of such a forum should be the formation of an independent, non-partisan economic think tank, made up of bright young business practitioners (entrepreneurs) and intellectuals to be guided by a few experienced ones. The group could identify areas of potential investment and make them available for both foreign and local investors. My first area of serious consieration is oil palm cultivation on a serious scale due to its huge international and local market availability.

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Formation of Western Region Development Consortium that will raise funds either through floatation of shares or mobilisation of financial resources internally to actively participate in big businesses. Such a consortium/consortia can buy and revamp potentially viable but defunct industrial facilities such as the Bonsa Tyre and the Aboso Glass Factor

Establishment of regional development finance institution that will provide financial support for viable projects within the region

Mining: Some time ago Prof Mireku Gyimah of UMaT aptly described mining in a proverbial Santrofie anoma terms, “if you leave it you leave wealth, if you take it you bring curse upon your self.” While totally in accord with the eminent professor, I will go a step further to describe mining as Nto bise na bise pa which must be picked only by the wise. We must accept that Western Region is a mining region and wisely pick the benefits from it, rather the politically cautious and sometimes openly negative attitudes toward mining. It was not for nothing that God put all these minerals under our soils and not elsewhere. We need to develop better ways of identifying and accessing the benefit of the extraction of these minerals for the good of all the inhabitants of the Region. One way to do that is to seriously consider the position of Tarkwa and deliberately developing it into a centre of excellence, a growth pole. The amount of money that presently circulates in Tarkwa and its immediate surrounding areas per week is in excess of $20million dollars. It is now the preferred choice of all the financial institutions in the country. Tarkwa has several flourishing business whose resources when properly harnessed can set the stage for the development of a mini Johannesburg. Business people in the Region should actually get involved in the mining business to ensure increased internal supply chain impact.

Chieftaincy disputes are a bane of the regions development with hugely negative implication on land availability for development. There is the need for a radical approach to resolving the myriad of chieftaincy issues in the region.

People’s attitude must change: stop the sit-home-talk-about-others attitude, “pull him down”, “I can’t do so nobody does it” attitudes must give way to a positive, “can do it” one. We should reduce dependence on governments “come-to-our aid” attitude and start looking into ourselves and what we can do for the Region.

Marketing the Region: We always pride ourselves with the mantra “the best comes” from the west” where in this region has this been written or advertised? If we believe that the best come from here then we must keep it at all the entry point to the Region and elsewhere.

Finally always spare a prayer for the Western Region

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