Harnessing Ghana’s demographic dividend: opportunities and challenges

Stephen O. Kwankye, University of Ghana
John K. Anarfi, University of Ghana

Ghana’s population has witnessed sustained fertility transition over the past two decades with a built-in demographic dividend that has to be harnessed to the country’s development advantage. This paper examines Ghana’s population and development nexus to highlight areas which present dividends to be taped. The paper focuses on four key areas: economy, education, health and governance. It shows that Ghana is at a stage where conscious efforts have to be made to reap the benefits of the on-going demographic dividend that is associated with the country’s fertility transition since it will not come automatically. Yet, it will require an appreciation at the highest levels of government and among key stakeholders of the central place population should be accorded in national development discourse, backed by high-level political commitment and determination to implement population-related policies and programmes to avoid Ghana’s current population dynamics posing serious challenges towards attaining a higher middle-income status.