Africa is blessed and cursed with diamonds and oil in nations such as Angola, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the newly rich and tiny Equilateral Guinea. Blessed because of the potential wealth, cursed because of the potential wealth. The discussion now is which way Ghana will go. Will it go the way of middle eastern nations who reinvested oil revenue to rapid development or will it go the way of Nigeria its larger west African neighbor, who squanders the billions made in oil or Angola, which was caught up in war for twenty years and could never enjoy its diamond and oil wealth.

Ghana was Africa's first independent African nation when it was led by the dynamic Pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah, who stressed political unification of Africa to obtain economic liberation. (Nkrumah was overthrown in a U.S. and British supported coup. Shortly after the release of his book on Neo-Colonialism See Neo-Colonialism). Ghana has come along way since those dark days and now has the potential to be a modest economic power.

Thus far Ghanaian leaders such as President Kufor have stressed that they will not go the way of the corruption and ineptitude that hurt there African brethren, stating, "Ghana will succeed because this is our destiny to set the good pace for where we are. So we're going to use it well." Let's hope.


from blackstate.com