Ghana places 78 on global prosperity index for 2011

Ghana ranks 78 out of 110 countries on the global prosperity index  2011 released by Legatum Institute. Ghana climbed 12 positions from the 2010 edition of the index.

The country’s ranking on the index was based on a variety of factors including wealth, economic growth, personal wellbeing, and quality of life.

Ghana placed third in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the index. Botswana and South Africa took the first and second position in the region respectively.

The country’s economy was ranked 106th with the index saying “Ghana has a growing but poorly developed economy that causes uncertainty about the future.”

In terms of entrepreneurship and opportunity, Ghana placed 85th and was cited as having low levels of innovation and weak infrastructure for entrepreneurship. The index says registered innovative activity is very low in Ghana and, research and development (R&D) expenditure constitutes just 0.4% of GDP.

According to Legatum, Ghanaians have confidence in the political system as well as leaders despite high perceptions of corruption. In that sense, the index ranked Ghana 51st in terms of governance.

Other sub-indexes where Ghana was ranked were education (94th), health (87th), safety & security (55th), personal freedom (18th) and social capital (71st).

Norway topped the index while Central African Republic was last.

The Institute sourced its data from Gallup World Poll, WTO, World Development Indicators, GDP, World Intellectual Property Organization, UN Human Development Report, World Bank, OECD and World Values Survey.

By Ekow Quandzie