Ghana...A Land of Resources

Map of natural resources of Ghana. Prof. Kwame Henaku Addo, 2013. http://www.ghana.gov.gh/images/documents/naturally_resourced.pdf

            The Republic of Ghana is rich in both agricultural and mineral resources. Reader, speaking of the  Ashanti kingdom, whose borders encompassed the area of West Africa comprising modern Ghana, noted, "Asante is the only part of Africa whose inhabitants found both mineral and agricultural resources in abundant quantity" (Reader 1999, 424). According to Professor Kwame Henaku Addo, Ghana's mining industry comprises more than half of the nation's GDP, mineral production accounts for nearly 40 percent of exports, Ghana is considered a world-class producer of gold and cocoa and an emerging petroleum producing nation (Addo 2013).

Ghanian agricultural, ore, and petroleum products. Accessed 

September 22, 2016.  http://caglobalint.com/recruitment 

africa/natural-resources-agriculture-ghana/.

            Agriculture accounts for a large part of Ghana's economy, and approximately 40 percent of the working population is employed in the agricultural industry (GhanaWeb n.d.). Agricultural products include timber, oil palm, rubber, and especially cocoa. Ghana also produces kola nuts, which Reader describes as “…an addictive stimulant whose intensely bitter taste relieved thirst and became a symbol of hospitality throughout … West Africa … By the late twentieth century its influence had embraced the planet, as an ingredient of the world’s most popular soft drink: Coca-Cola” (Reader 1999, 278). 
            

Ghana's greatest natural resource-gold. Accessed September
22, 2016. http://caglobalint.com/recruitmentafrica/natural-
resources-agriculture-ghana/.

            Mineral and ore products include diamonds, iron ore, copper, clay, and salt (Addo 2013). However, Ghana’s most important natural resource is gold, a resource so plentiful that Ghana was formerly known as “The Gold Coast.” It was this abundance of gold, as well as the Atlantic slave trade, which fueled the rise of the Ashanti Empire and incited European imperialism; the Portuguese, Dutch and British sought to control the area, with the British finally succeeding and establishing a colony in 1874.

Ghana possesses rich oil reserves. Accessed September
22, 2016. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage
/NewsArchive/Ghana-attracts-major-oil-firms-28166

            Recent discoveries of oil and natural gas reserves in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Ghana have attracted the attention of world oil consuming nations, including the United States, and promise to make Ghana an important player in the energy sector (Ghana Strikes Oil in Commercial Quantities 2007).

            Ghana is a nation rich in natural resources. Agricultural products such as the kola nut and rich gold resources stimulated maritime trade and attracted European imperialism. Gold was present in such abundance it resulted in the area being christened “The Gold Coast,” an appellation which persisted until the newly named Republic of Ghana declared independence from Britain in 1956. Ghana’s recently discovered oil reserves promise to increase the nation’s wealth and standard of living, and once again establish Ghana’s importance as a nation of trade.

Bibliography

Addo, Kwame Henaku. "Naturally Resourced." Government of Ghana. 2013.             
            Accessed September 22, 2016. http://www.ghana.gov.gh/images/documents/  
            naturally_ resourced.pdf.

"Ghana Strikes Oil in Commercial Quantities." GhanaWeb. June 18, 2007. Accessed September 22, 2016. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-strikes-oil-in-commercial-quantities-125783.

GhanaWeb. n.d. Accessed September 22, 2016. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/ country_information/.

Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1999.

Religious Diversity in Ghana

Fig. 1: Mosque in Tamale, Ghana. easytrackghana.com/cultural

-overview-ghana_tribes-rastas-religions.php#ashanti

            The Republic of Ghana is extremely diverse in religious practices as well as ethnicities and cultures. According to a 2010 census, 71.2% of the population are Christian, including 28.3% Pentecostal, 18.4% Protestant, 13.1% Catholic, and 11.4% “other;” 17.6% profess to be Muslim; 5.2% follow Traditional African religions; .8% adhere to other religions, such as Buddhism; and 5.2% claim no religious beliefs (GhanaWeb n.d.).

            There are many origin myths among the various peoples of Ghana. According to Professor J.K. Anquandah, “One fundamental teaching common to all Ghanaian ethnic groups is the belief that there is a Creator God who is the source and fount of all things and beings, the beginning and end of all things, the provider of all things (Religons and Belief Systems 2006). Traditional African religions include ancestor worship and animism–the belief that spirits inhabit natural features such as trees, streams, and mountains.

Fig. 2: Ananse the spider. https://mrpsmythopaedia.wikispaces
.com/Asanti

The Ashanti people, members of the Akan-language peoples and the largest ethnic group in Ghana, tell the story of the demi-god spider Nanni (Ananse), who helped the Creator-God fashion human beings. Belcher recounts the tale: “At the beginning, the spider Nanni assisted God in creating humans. The spider wove stuff, and God used the spider’s weaving to make humans” (Belcher 2005, 104-105). Others of the Akan peoples believe their ancestors emerged from the earth, and claim to know the spot where they surfaced (Belcher 2005, 326).

Some coastal peoples believe they were led from the sea by two giants, Amamfi and Kwegia. A hunter observing them rising from the waves cried out in surprise; at this, those still in the water were transformed into rocks, which still stand among the waves. The people from the sea split into two groups; one, led by the giant Kwegia lived by the sea and became fishermen. The other group, led by Amamfi, left the shore and moved inland, where Amamfi taught them agriculture (Belcher 2005, 327).   

Fig. 3: Catholic Mass in Ghana. easytrackghana.com/cultural-
overview-ghana_tribes-rastas-religions.php#ashanti

            Christianity and Islam, brought to the peoples of Western Africa by Arab and European traders and missionaries, have largely supplanted Traditional African religions, although often being adapted to African methods of story-telling and praise. Christianity has had a significant influence on the practice of Traditional African religions; for example, the Dagomba people believe they are descended from Noah (Belcher 2005, 334). One Ashanti myth describing the rise of the Ashanti people includes an event in which “…one Ashanti went so far as to slash a messenger with his sword and cut off an ear,” echoing John 18:10, in which Peter struck the servant Malchus with his sword, cutting off his ear (Belcher 2005, 329). The Soninke people tell a story which includes a younger son covering himself with lamb’s skin to imitate his brother’s hairy chest in order to fool his blind father into giving him the blessing due his older brother, paralleling the story of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 27:1-29 (Belcher 2005, 386).

            Ghana boasts a diverse population comprised of close to 100 ethnic groups speaking over 25 languages (GhanaWeb n.d.). Religion is another facet of Ghanian culture illustrating the country’s rich diversity.

Bibliography

Esswein, Benjamin. "Presentation: Islamic Dynasties Economic, Social, and Political Development of Africa." Lynchburg, VA: Liberty University, 2014. https://learn.liberty.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_325805_1&content_id=_13670563_1. (accessed September 14, 2016).

GhanaWeb. n.d. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/country_information/ (accessed August 30, 2016).

"Religons and Belief Systems." National Commission on Culture. 2006. http://www.ghanaculture.gov.gh/index1.php?linkid=291 (accessed September 15, 2016).

Oral History of the Ga People

           

Ga King of Accra Taki II and servants, c. 1891. kwekudee-trip
downmemorylane.blogspot.com/2013/01/ga-people-ghanas-
tribe-that-has.htmi.

The Ga people migrated south from the Niger River valley, settling in what is today southern Ghana. The Ga established six autonomous towns in this region, the most important of which was Accra, later to become capital of Ghana. (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica n.d., para. 1). Ga identity is inherited through patrilineal descent, and there exists a definite distinction between the roles of men and women among the Ga people; these facts play a large role in determining the interpretation and significance of the story of Naa Dobe Akabi, who is often remembered as a wicked woman-king.

            According to Ga oral tradition, the Ga king Mampong Okai, seeking to reestablish close relations which had previously existed between the Ga and the Obutu peoples, took as his queen the beautiful Akabi, a princess of the Obutu. Odamtten posits the marriage of King Okai to Akabi “may have been the first clear articulation of the Ga ethnic identity policy of Ablekuma aba kumawo (literally, may strangers come and join with us), which extended Ga identity to immigrants living among the Ga people” (Odamtten 2015, 66). This concept of inviting outsiders into Ga society is central to interpreting the story of Akabi, as would be demonstrated by later events.

            The oral history records that King Okai was murdered when Okai and Akabi’s son, Okaikoi, was only a few years old. Akabi’s strong maternal instincts aided her in overcoming the claims of several older sons–whose mothers were Ga and who therefore were considered “pure” Ga–and she became the young prince’s regent. Akabi “took possession of the King’s property and usurped the government” (Odamtten 2015, 68). This placed her in conflict with the traditional, conservative Ga male elders. Akabi’s conflict with the elders resulted in some elderly men being put to death; while the details of these executions are clouded, that elderly men were put to death is not disputed. (Odamtten 2015, 71). Akabi is also said to have commanded the Ga to dig wells with their bare hands; to have ordered the live capture of a lion, resulting in several deaths; and to have insisted the roof of her palace be roofed with clay rather than grass, entailing a great deal more labor (Odamtten 2015, 71-72). Perhaps most telling in the perception of her critics, Akabi symbolically solidified her position as king by acquiring the royal regalia, “in which case Akabi can be said to have acquired masculine power through her possession of the regalia needed for the consecration of the next king” (Odamtten 2015, 76). Furthermore, Akabi’s critics believed that as she was Obutu, she was not eligible to rule the Ga. Akabi’s rule ended when was murdered by being buried alive in one of the wells she had ordered dug.

Ga women in traditional shrine worship attire. kwekudee-trip
downmemorylane.blogspot.com/2013/01/ga-people-ghanas-
tribe-that-has.html.

            The story of Akabi is important to Ga culture, and, by extension, Ghanian history, for several reasons. First, the story records what may be the earliest example of the Ga practice of inviting members of foreign peoples to become members of the Ga. Second, the story of Akabi attained political significance in 2007 when Nii Tackie Tawiah III claimed descent from Akabi to legitimize his claim to the Ga throne when faced by several opposing claimants to the throne (Odamtten 2015, 69). Finally, and perhaps most significantly, as Odamtten asserts, “Akabi’s story could serve to educate the Ga and Ghanaian public—not only about Ga identity but also about the historical evolution of women’s roles and the gendered dimensions of Ga traditions—as they determine their future as an ethnic group in modern Ghana” (Odamtten 2015, 79).

Bibliography

Odamtten, Harry N.K. "Dodi Akabi: A Reexamination of the Oral and Textual Narrative of a "Wicked Female King." Journal of Women's History 27, no. 3 (Fall 2015): 61-85. doi 10.1353/jowh.2015.0034 (accessed September 7, 2016).

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. The Ga People. n.d. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ga (accessed September 7, 2013).