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Ghana Economic and Social Development
The years of British administration of the Gold Coast during
the twentieth century were an era of significant progress in
social, economic, and educational development. Communications were
greatly improved. For example, the Sekondi-Tarkwa railroad, begun
in 1898, was extended until it connected most of the important
commercial centers of the south, and by 1937, there were 9,700
kilometers of roads. Telecommunication and postal services were
initiated as well.
New crops were also introduced and gained widespread
acceptance. Cacao trees, introduced in 1878, brought the first cash
crop to the farmers of the interior; it became the mainstay of the
nation's economy in the 1920s when disease wiped out Brazil's
trees. The production of cocoa was largely in the hands of
Africans. The Cocoa Marketing Board was created in 1947 to assist
farmers and to stabilize the production and sale of their crop. By
the end of that decade, the Gold Coast was exporting more than half
of the world's cocoa supply.
The colony's earnings increased further from the export of
timber and gold. Gold, which initially brought Europeans to the
Gold Coast, remained in the hands of Africans until the 1890s.
Traditional techniques of panning and shaft mining, however,
yielded only limited output. The development of modern modes of
extracting minerals made gold mining an exclusively foreign-run
enterprise. For example, the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, which
was organized in 1897, gained a concession of about 160 square
kilometers in which to prospect commercially for gold. Although
certain tribal authorities profited greatly from the granting of
mining concessions, it was the European mining companies and the
colonial government that accumulated much of the wealth. Revenue
from export of the colony's natural resources financed internal
improvements in infrastructure and social services. The foundation
of an educational system more advanced than any other else in West
Africa also resulted from mineral export revenue.
Many of the economic and social improvements in the Gold Coast
in the early part of the current century have been attributed to
Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, governor from 1919 to 1927. Born in
Toronto, Canada, Guggisberg joined the British army in 1889. During
the first decade of the twentieth century, he worked as a surveyor
in the British colonies of the Gold Coast and Nigeria, and later,
during World War I, he served in France.
At the beginning of his governorship of the Gold Coast,
Guggisberg presented a ten-year development program to the
Legislative Council. He suggested first the improvement of
transportation. Then, in order of priority, his prescribed
improvements included water supply, drainage, hydroelectric
projects, public buildings, town improvements, schools, hospitals,
prisons, communication lines, and other services. Guggisberg also
set a goal of filling half of the colony's technical positions with
Africans as soon as they could be trained. His program has been
described as the most ambitious ever proposed in West Africa up to
that time. Another of the governor's programs led to the
development of an artificial harbor at Takoradi, which then became
Ghana's first port. Achimota College, which developed into one of
the nation's finest secondary schools, was also a Guggisberg idea.
It was through British-style education that a new Ghanaian
elite gained the means and the desire to strive for independence.
During the colonial years, the country's educational institutions
improved markedly. From beginnings in missionary schools, the early
part of the twentieth century saw significant advances in many
fields, and, although the missions continued to participate, the
government steadily increased its interest and support. In 1909 the
government established a technical school and a teachers' training
college at Accra; several other secondary schools were set up by
the missions. The government steadily increased its financial
backing for the growing number of both state and mission schools.
In 1948 the country opened its first center of higher learning, the
University College.
The colony assisted Britain in both World War I and World War
II. From 1914 to 1918, the Gold Coast Regiment served with
distinction in battles against German forces in Cameroon and in the
long East Africa campaign. In World War II, troops from the Gold
Coast emerged with even greater prestige after outstanding service
in such places as Ethiopia and Burma. In the ensuing years,
however, postwar problems of inflation and instability severely
hampered readjustment for returning veterans, who were in the
forefront of growing discontent and unrest. Their war service and
veterans' associations had broadened their horizons, making it
difficult for them to return to the humble and circumscribed
positions set aside for Africans by the colonial authorities.
Data as of November 1994
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