Many Ghanaians Not Benefiting From Booming Economy

A new report by the United Nations shows that millions of Ghanaians are mired in poverty rather than benefiting from the country's booming economy.

This came to bear when the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights submitted the results of his 10-day fact-finding mission to Ghana in April to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

According to the U.N. Investigator Philip Alston although Ghana is the fastest growing economy in Africa and one of the three fastest growing economies in the whole world, the rich get richer while a chunk of the population wallow in poverty.

The poor are losing out amidst the country's growing wealth because Ghana spends 50 percent less than its peer countries in Africa on social protection, he says.

Alston further explains that most of the country's resources are being plowed into private investment projects designed to make the wealthy better off.

"So, the risk is that Ghana continues to be the great economic success story in the continent, but that very little of the wealth will trickle down to a fairly extensive number of Ghanaians, who continue to live in poverty," said Alston.

Statistics show one in five Ghanaians live in poverty and one in eight live in extreme poverty. Alston says he finds it particularly troubling that 28 percent of children live in poverty.

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