Ghana: Weak economy pushes middle earners toward poverty

DW (English)

Many Ghanaians say their survival is at risk if the nation cannot escape its economic deadlock. They pin their hopes on the new president to be elected this weekend. DW's Edith Kimani reports from Accra.

Transcript

00:00She's the picture of a successful Ghanaian businesswoman, but Juliet Labi can't afford

00:07any luxuries.

00:09Despite the blistering Accra heat, she keeps her fan off.

00:14Utility bills are soaring, and as a primary provider for her family, she must carefully

00:19balance comfort and survival.

00:21A typical firstborn in a Ghanaian home, you assume certain responsibilities, and we are

00:29usually described as the second parents.

00:33Aside employees, you would have siblings if you have any to take care of.

00:38So I have my mother, I have my other siblings that I need to support.

00:44Today, Juliet works from home to reduce fuel expenses.

00:48Like many in Ghana's middle class, her disposable income has shrunk.

00:55I've made a lot of sacrifices whereby I need to buy myself a pair of shoes, I need to buy

01:01myself maybe a car to boost my business, to do something, but at the moment you can't

01:07do that.

01:08So I may have to use my personal car to run my business, run my personal life.

01:16Across Ghana, families are struggling.

01:19High inflation, currency depreciation, and mounting national debt have tightened the

01:24grip on middle-income households, pushing more people into poverty.

01:29As the country heads into its next elections, top presidential candidates John Mahama and

01:34Mahamudu Bawumia each claim they have the solutions to fix the economy, the top concern

01:40among voters here.

01:43Living conditions have been harsh these days.

01:46Even if you work hard, what you earn as income can't sustain you long.

01:50It is a struggle.

01:51I'm just helpless.

01:53Young people aren't getting jobs these days, so it's very tough.

01:58They're now even resorting to stealing to survive under the current economic conditions.

02:05And many businesses are barely surviving, like Juliet's cereal factory.

02:10She tells me supply costs keep rising.

02:12Her workers also face higher bills at home, but Juliet can't afford to raise their pay.

02:18Instead, she sometimes offers free food to take home.

02:23Juliet's mother, Grace, works the corn mill.

02:26She's here to help her daughter out, but she doesn't really have a choice.

02:30Her farm in rural Ghana no longer produces an income she can live on.

02:37Without my daughter, things would be tough.

02:41She is the one managing the business and keeping it afloat.

02:44I earn my income from this business, so without my daughter, who's always pushing hard to

02:50keep us in business, it would be difficult for me and other workers.

02:58Working harder and cutting back is what many Ghanaians are forced to do right now.

03:02But there's a limit to what's humanly possible.

03:07Prince Sechere is a father of two.

03:10He juggles two jobs, waiting tables full-time while working as a mixologist on the side.

03:16With no days off, the exhaustion is wearing him down, but his worries go beyond his personal well-being.

03:23Prince fears for Ghana's future.

03:27When people come pre-school and they don't have jobs to do, we have nurses who are in the house,

03:32we have teachers who are in the house, and there are no jobs for them.

03:36So they'll go elsewhere, make sure they make a living for themselves.

03:40If all your good ones are leaving you, you become a desert.

03:44Have you had this idea of leaving the country, perhaps?

03:47Plenty of times. As I'm talking to you, if I had any opportunity to travel to any Arab country, I would move quick.

03:54So the things that Prince has reflected on resonate with what I've heard since I've been here in Accra,

04:00that there are simply no opportunities.

04:02And even for those who are highly educated, they lament that their skills are simply mismatched for what the job market needs.

04:08And so the question about the economy is, is it just the external pressures that are creating this problem,

04:13or is it a problem of poor management?

04:16Economic analyst Abdul Ahmed certainly thinks so.

04:21Of course, mismanagement is part of it. Corruption is part of it.

04:26Lack of foresight of the leadership is another.

04:30Lack of long-term planning is also another.

04:35Excessive political partisanship is a serious concern for us.

04:41And of course, the general fragility of the national economy, which has been fragile since independence.

04:52Are you hopeful that the leaders who take over the next government are going to do anything for the economy?

05:01I doubt, except that you can have some who can perform relatively better than the others.

05:08But with all honesty, I can tell you that we don't have transformational leadership now.

05:14Juliet and her mother, like many in Ghana's middle class struggling to hold on, are hoping for change.

05:21To them, the choice of who to elect is more than political. It's about personal survival.

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