'Managing Land for the Common Good? Evidence from a community development project in Agona, Ghana'

The common and dominant view that customary land tenure systems in Africa are inefficient because they forbid individuation, are not registered, are insecure, discourage access to credit, and provide incentive for free rider problems is examined through a case study of one community in Ghana, West Africa. A ninety-day field study in the case study area explored the extent to which the land tenure system has supported a community-based housing project and how that, in turn, has shaped or constrained infrastructural and socio-economic and political development. The paper reveals that communal ownership in the case study area deviates from the orthodox description of land tenure systems in Africa and escapes the problems associated with the so-called `tragedy of the commons. Abuse by both the corporation and corporators is possible and probable, but not because of custom. Growing processes of modernisation, commodification, and secularisation will undermine this syste

Avoiding the Oil Curse in Ghana: Is Transparency Sufficient?

This article assesses measures put in place by the government of Ghana to manage Ghana’s newly found oil. It uncovers two actors – the people in the ‘oil communities’ and the oil companies – that have been ‘forgotten’ by the government and yet are critical to unlocking the so-called ‘oil blessing’. It is argued that the existing policies do not sufficiently account for the peculiar needs of the communities in which oil will be drilled. The existing policy paradigm implies that the activities of the oil companies might set in motion corrupt practices among public officials and worsen the plight of the poor.Key Words: Oil, poor, curse, corruption, Ghana, activism

Africa: On the rise, but to where?

© 2015, The Association for Social Economics. Africa’s hitherto negative image is now being rapidly replaced by a new persona: ‘Africa on the rise’. Developed mainly from Africa’s growth experience, this re-imaging of Africa has generated considerable interest even among Africanists concerned that the continent has often been the target of crisis jokes. Even more notably, the rebranding of Africa has gained traction in corridors of power and centres of finance. For this latter group, however, the narrative signals more than a cultural repackaging. It is about confirming that Africa is ripe and ready to host investment and to open up markets in areas where they did not exist or existed but were not capitalist in form. Either way, however, the ‘Africa on the rise’ narrative achieves a major political and economic goal. Neglecting ethical questions about sustainable jobs, inequality and ecological crisis, while extolling the virtues of capital accumulation, it extends a particular neoliberal ideology which favours people with market power, not the majority with precarious positions or their relationship with nature

Book Review - Arrival City: How the Largest Migration in History is Reshaping our World

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The informal sector in Ghana under siege

In order to develop effective policies to improve conditions for people working in the informal sector of the economy, it is crucial to understand how that sector arises, operates, and relates to the state. This article analyses the informal sector in Ghana from this perspective, drawing insight from a wide range of sources such as radio and newspaper accounts to overcome the dearth of official information on the subject. The analysis shows the limits of various approaches that have aimed at revamping the informal sector. It puts the case for a more comprehensive approach to the informal sector than has been evident in previous policies toward the urban economy. © 2011 SAGE Publications

Africa's development post 2015: A critical defence of postcolonial thinking

Drawing on three postcolonial texts, this essay offers a critical defence of postcolonial thinking in the debate about Africa’s development experiences. It argues that this approach is fundamental in appreciating, analysing, and transforming the post 2015 development agenda, especially if it is revised to take neoliberalism more seriously than simply regarding it as ‘neocolonialism’

Teaching political economy to students of property economics: Mission impossible?

It is widely held by economists that students of (property) economics self-select to be taught mainstream economics. My experience of teaching a pluralist subject called ‘property and political economy’ (PPE) has proved to be entirely different. Although some students initially described it as ‘irrelevant’, major pedagogic revisions have considerably improved students’ ratings of the subject. This experience calls into question the view that property economics students are seeking only vocational training to pursue personal wealth. However, it is a mistake to assume that students have an intrinsic desire to study pluralist political economy, even if taught effectively

Africa's Failed Economic Development Trajectory: A Critique

Crisis narratives and populist representations of the woes of Africa abound. Civil society organisations do not always help, as their activities continue to sustain a particularly negative image of Africa. `Revisionists have tried to counter this state of affairs by providing `success stories about Africa. Thus, the literature on the state of affairs in Africa is reduced to a bifurcation of `failure and `success without resolving the fundamental question of whether there is something wrong with economic development in Africa. This paper tries to move that state of knowledge forward by providing a systematic analysis of what development analysts and practitioners mean by `economic development, while exploring how adequate are the indices for measuring the idea. Framing the question in those terms reveals a complex ensemble of findings among which are the contested nature of economic development, its indicators, and predictions findings which have substantial implications for judging whether there is something wrong with economic development in Africa