Kordzo Sedegah
The United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) has named Ghana among 12 other African countries in the medium
development group of the 2019 Human Development Report which seeks to measure
the socioeconomic progress of countries.
With a global ranking of 142
out of 189 countries and a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.596, Ghana joined
the group that included other African countries like Angola, Cape Verde,
Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Kenya, Namibia, Sao Tome and
Principe, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Despite having an HDI which was
below an average of 0.634 for countries in the medium human development group,
Ghana was above an average of 0.541 for countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Highlights of the report which
was titled, “Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: Inequalities in
human development in the 21st century” indicated that while gaps in basic
living standards are narrowing with unprecedented number of people escaping poverty,
hunger and diseases, new equalities in terms of access to tertiary education,
seismic effect of technology and climate crisis are emerging.
Speaking at a media briefing in
Accra on Thursday, UNDP Economic Specialist, Kordzo Sedegah, explained that comparison
of performance among countries should be along similarities in demographic such
as population size.
He, therefore, said that Ghana
had performed well as compared to countries with similar size of population
like Cameroon and Kenya who were ranked 150 and 147 respectively.
He also explained that a
country may be ranked lower despite recording an increase in HDI from previous
ranking as a result of competitiveness among other countries.
The report also highlighted
that between 1990 and 2018, Ghana’s life expectancy at birth had increased by
7.0 years from 56.8 years in 1990 to 63.8 years in 2018.
According to a UNDP statement, “Mean
years of schooling increased by 2.3 years from 4.9 years in 1990 to 7.2 years
in 2018. Expected years of schooling increased by 3.9 years. Ghana’s Gross
national Income (GNI) per capita increased by about 120 per cent between 1990
and 2018 from $1863 to $4099.”
Frederick Mugisha, who is a
UNDP Economic advisor, called for a rethink in how to build resilient local
economies and measure human progress.
He cited an example by saying
that a measure for long and healthy life should be about expanding
opportunities for people to avoid premature death and disability rather than
life expectancy while “access to knowledge should be about broadening the
horizon of what is possible, not just years of schooling”.
“In measuring decent standard
of living, we need to move beyond basic needs to a life of genuine choice and
freedom,” he added.
Seychelles with a ranking of 62 and an HDI
of 0.801 has for the first time joined other African countries that included Botswana,
Gabon, Mauritius and South Africa high in the high human development group of
the report.
By Issah Mohammed
