Breadcrumb

Ghana

The role of CSR

The topic of corporate social responsibility is now being discussed in Ghana, although it is not a political priority or at the top of the development policy agenda.

Several companies whose production has a significant effect on their environment are leaders in promoting CSR in Ghana, particularly in the mining, oil and gas sectors. For years, these companies have been accused of undermining human rights in local communities and doing serious damage to the environment. A report by the government's Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice concluded that there is some justification to these charges by NGOs. 

Most international companies in the extractive industry are therefore striving to improve their public image by engaging in social, educational and health-related programs. Accordingly, CSR is perceived in Ghana as closely linked to the PR efforts of major foreign companies and regarded with some skepticism. 

In the view of the German embassy in Accra, it would be more helpful for the Ghanaian government to impose higher charges on companies for the extraction of raw materials, which would compensate for the damage they cause. This money could be used to benefit the entire population rather than specific projects selected by the companies.

Other CSR activities, however, are positive examples of corporate engagement, as in the case of fair trade in the cocoa sector. In 2008, the British chocolate manufacturer Cadbury began to switch to purchasing fair trade cocoa beans, and it plans to purchase only from fair trade sources in Ghana by 2012. The company, which is part of Kraft Foods, is investing a total of GBP 45 million to upgrade its supply chain and raise the standard of living of cocoa farmers. In addition to Ghana, target regions include India, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean.

Along with international companies, development cooperation (DC) organizations are among the drivers of CSR in Ghana. German development cooperation focuses on sustainable economic development, and public-private partnerships can be helpful in achieving that goal. Through such partnerships, companies and development organizations can work together in such areas as education and healthcare.

Several organizations in Ghana seek to promote CSR:

- Corporate Social Responsibility Movement (CSRM) 
CSRM is an NGO located in Tema, a coastal city near Accra, that works to promote corporate social responsibility and environmental protection.
- The three most important economic associations in Ghana – the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) and the Ghana Employers' Association (GEA) – support the Ghana Business Code, a framework of rules based on the principles of the UN Global Compact.
- Club Ghana 100 is a ranking and an award given out by the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC). Selection criteria include not only trade volume and profitability, but also CSR activities and third-party assessments of business ethics and relationships with employees, among other things. 

CSR understanding

A GTZ survey of Ghanaian companies showed that they were aware of the importance of CSR. However, their efforts in this regard were rarely strategically planned, and generally philanthropic in nature. 

Companies reported that the two main reasons for their CSR activities were an interest in improving the company’s image and a desire to promote the socioeconomic development of the most important stakeholders (such as the community in which they were located). The GTZ study determined, therefore, that most projects were designed to meet the expectations of direct stakeholders such as communities and customers.

Projects aiming to achieve these goals usually relate to education, environmental protection or the healthcare system. Donations are a common means of demonstrating social responsibility.

Source: GTZ (2009) Corporate Social Responsibility in sub-Saharan Africa. Built-in or bolted-on. 

Expectations towards companies

Political leaders and society at large primarily expect companies in Ghana to be profitable and to promote economic growth, which has a positive effect on society as a whole. However, these expectations do not include corporate involvement in social issues. 

By and large, there are few expectations of companies that are not involved in the commodities sector. In this sector, however, companies often assume responsibility for such tasks as providing healthcare in the place of government institutions, which are not always present in the mining regions.

Since German companies are not involved in the mining, oil and gas sectors, they receive no direct requests for CSR activities.

However, European customers of German companies expect them to make sure that the members of their value chains respect human rights and comply with social standards. This applies, for example, to cocoa farming. German companies frequently find that workers in Ghana lack necessary expertise, and it is often difficult for them to bring foreign workers to Ghana. Accordingly, they provide basic and further training for their employees.

Basic conditions

Government regulations – Implementation of international regulations

Ghana has ratified the ILO’s core labor standards, although it has been difficult to implement these standards in practice. Particularly problematic is C182, the convention entitled “Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor.” Child labor is found in Ghana primarily in agriculture and in the informal sector. The government does not dispute the fact that this problem exists. 

As in many developing and transition countries, there is a clear dichotomy: The formal sector has a dense system of regulations based on labor law, and there are relatively high social standards. There have been no recent cases in which foreign companies were accused of serious violations of employees’ rights. Layoffs for operational reasons are an exception, and this is an area in which Ghanaian law is very unclear. However, labor law and international conventions play no role in the informal sector. 

Economic initiatives – CSR tools for private industry

GLOBAL COMPACT network
44 members

Network focal point
Ms. Christy Banya
christy.a.banya (at) undp (dot) org

Network representative
Ms. Joyce Rosalind Aryee
joyce.aryee (at) ghanachamines (dot) com (dot) gh

The Ghana Business Code
The Ghana Business Code is based on the 10 principles of the Global Compact. These voluntary guidelines were established by, among others, the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), the Ghana Employers’ Association and the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry .

http://www.ambaccra.um.dk/NR/rdonlyres/76DD3E4A-8D60-4AD1-A76B-51F9EE958CA4/0/SoftcopyoffinalGBC.pdf   

Areas of activity

Poverty

During the past ten years Ghana has been politically stable, which has contributed to economic growth. After the collapse of the country’s currency in 2000, the government initiated a program to encourage growth and combat poverty. 

Basic information

Life expectancy: Total population: 60.1 years; men: 58.9 years; women: 61.3 years (2010 est.)

Infant mortality: Total: 51.2 deaths/1,000 births; boys: 54.7 deaths/1,000 births; girls: 47.5 deaths/1,000 births (2010 est.)

Malnutrition (< 5 years of age, moderate and severe, based on the WHO definition): 14% (2003-2008)

Access to clean water: 80% (2006)

Access to sanitary facilities: 10% (2006)

Human Poverty Index: 152nd of 182 (2007)

Gini Index: 42.8 (1992-2007)

Population below the poverty line: 28.5% (2006)

 

The resulting economic boom helped to reduce poverty. Absolute poverty among the population declined from 52 to 39.5 percent between 1991/92 and 2000, and to 28.5 percent by 2006. Life expectancy increased from 53 to 60.1 between 1982 and 2010. More recent data suggest that the Millennium Development Goal for 2015 of reducing by 50 percent the share of people living on less than one US dollar per year had already been achieved in 2007.

Participants

Agape Village of Hope International
Agape Village of Hope International is an NGO working for the development of rural communities in Ghana.
http://www.agapevillageofhopeintl.org

CARE-Ghana
CARE is an international aid organization; its office in Ghana is conducting numerous projects in areas including microbusiness development and environmental management.
www.care.org

German-Ghanaian Development Aid Association
The German-Ghanaian Development Aid Association was founded in 1993 by Ghanaians living in Kiel. It seeks to improve living conditions in Ghana’s rural areas by helping people to help themselves.
http://www.ghana-hilfe.org/

Goldküste e.V.
This association, dedicated to empowering people to help themselves, was founded in Ghana in 2003.
http://www.goldkueste-ev.de/

Rights and Voice Initiative
The Rights and Voice Initiative (RAVI) gives poor people on the margins of society a voice in dealing with the government, and thereby promotes respect for fundamental human rights. To that end, RAVI provides funding and training for communities and organizations.
http://www.ravighana.org/

However, the country’s economic structure has prevented large numbers of people from participating in this upswing. Ghana’s most important export goods are gold and cocoa; oil is to be extracted beginning in late 2010. It remains to be seen how the country will be affected by oil exports. So far no laws are in place governing the oil sector. Moreover, the dual function of the Ghana National Petroleum Company as both a regulator and a production company causes certain difficulties.

Company examples

Randstad Deutschland GmbH & Co.KG - VSO – Voluntary Service Overseas
Randstad, an employment service, supports the work of Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) all over the world. Randstad is involved in recruiting suitable technical staff and executives for management positions and sending them to developing countries like Ghana.
http://www.csr-weltweit.de/fallstudien/studie/randstad-deutschland-gmbh-amp-cokg-vso-voluntary-service-overseas-hauptsitz-in-londongrosz-1/index.nc.html

SAP AG
SAP works with the NGO Planet Finance, which specializes in microfinancing, to support women’s cooperatives that make shea butter out of shea nuts in northern Ghana. Large quantities of this raw material are used in the cosmetics and food industries. In most cases shea butter is sold by intermediaries, so the women who produce it reap only very little profit. An Internet-based trade platform and training courses for these women are intended to change these market structures, create transparency and increase their profit margin.
http://www.sap.com/press.epx?PressID=11472 and http://deutschland.planetfinancegroup.org/site/mikrofinanzprojekte.html

Ghana’s economy is strongly dependent on (subsistence) farming, which accounts for roughly 50 percent of GDP and employs 85 percent of workers. German companies that purchase goods in Ghana should therefore make sure that they include smaller producers in their supply chains. By offering training and specialization, German companies can gain access to reliable producers of such goods as organic cocoa that can also deliver products of the desired quality.

Education

For Ghana’s population of 18 million, there are nearly 13,000 primary schools, about 6,000 secondary schools, 21 colleges, 18 technical schools and seven public universities, as well as numerous vocational institutions and private universities. In other words, the country is relatively well supplied with educational institutions.

Basic information

Public spending on education (share of GDP): 5.4% (2008)

Compulsory school attendance: 4–15 years 

Rate of school enrollment (gross: number of children in primary school, regardless of their age, as a percentage of the number of children who are officially of primary school age): boys: 98%, girls: 97% (2003-2008)

Literacy (definition: ≥15 years of age who can read and write): Total population: 57.9%; men: 66.4%; women: 49.8% (2000)

HDI Education Index: 152nd of 182: 0.622 (1=max., 0=no education)

Nevertheless, many people in Ghana receive no more than a basic education. Only 60 percent of schoolchildren complete primary school, fewer than 50 percent attend a secondary school, and only 57.9 percent of the overall population can read and write.

Participants

Ghana Health and Education Initiative
The Ghana Health and Education Initiative develops educational and health-related projects to enable communities to achieve sustained development.
http://www.ghei.org/

Ghana Outlook
Ghana Outlook is a small British charitable organization working to promote education and health in Ghana. It works with local communities to develop appropriate projects.
http://www.ghana-outlook.org.uk/index.php

Volunteer Partnerships for West Africa (VPWA)
Volunteer Partnerships for West Africa (VPWA) is a volunteer-based NGO. Its objective is to provide poor people with access to education and better health.
http://www.vpwa.org/

Wealthy parents send their children to expensive private schools, which offer a higher-quality education than the public schools. Improving the education provided by public schools requires more teachers and facilities – an area in which German companies might become involved, since there is always a lack of well trained employees. 

Company examples

Tropigha Farms Ltd.
Tropigha Farms Ltd. is Ghana’s largest papaya producer. This German-owned company runs a three-month exchange program for agronomy students from Ghana and Germany, which allows them to gain professional experience and promotes intercultural exchange. 
http://www.ghana.diplo.de/Vertretung/ghana/en/05/Tropigha/text.html

 

 

Health

Medical care in Ghana has improved over the past few years. However, many key data indicate that there is still substantial room for improvement. High rates of infant and maternal mortality pose a particular challenge. As a tropical country, Ghana also has to deal with a variety of infectious diseases, such as malaria, cholera, typhus, tuberculosis, yellow fever and hepatitis A and B. Guinea worm disease, bilharzias and polio are also a daily challenge for physicians and patients.

Basic information

Public spending on health (share of GDP): 3.5% (2008)

Medical care: 15 physicians per 100,000 people (2004)

Life expectancy: Total population: 60.1 years; men: 58.9 years; women: 61.3 years (2010 est.)

Infant mortality: Total: 51.2 deaths/1,000 births; boys: 54.7 deaths/1,000 births; girls: 47.5 deaths/1,000 births (2010 est.)

Maternal mortality: 350 deaths/100,000 births (1990-2006)

Malnutrition (< 5 years of age, moderate and severe, WHO statistics): 14% (2003-2008)

Rate of HIV/AIDS infection (>15 years of age): 1.9 % (2007)

HIV/AIDS sufferers: 260,000 (2007)

HIV/AIDS deaths: 21,000 (2007)

Most medical care is provided by the public Ghana Health Service (GHS). There are some church-run hospitals and a few privately operated hospitals, but they account for less than two percent of healthcare services. The GHS draws up guidelines for health policy, and it is responsible for education and prevention as well as for training medical personnel and operating hospitals. Particular efforts have been made during the past few years to provide more healthcare services in rural areas. In the past, the rural population relied primarily on traditional African medicine. However, the public health system is faced with the problem of irregular financing and a serious lack of specialists such as midwives.

Participants

FightAIDS Ghana
FightAIDS Ghana is working in the slums to educate people about sexually transmitted diseases, as well as providing assistance for those infected with HIV, AIDS sufferers and AIDS orphans.
www.fightaidsghana.org

Gate of Hope Foundation
The Gate of Hope Foundation is an NGO that promotes the development of women and children, health, community development and environmental protection.
www.gateofhope.org

Ghana Eye Foundation
The Ghana Eye Foundation is engaged in fighting eye diseases and training the relevant medical personnel.
http://www.ghanaeyefoundation.org/

Ghana Health Service
The Ghana Health Service is the governmental organization responsible for the public healthcare system.
http://www.ghanahealthservice.org/index.php

Give Ghana Help
Founded in 2010, Give Ghana Help is an NGO dedicated to healthcare and education on topics related to health.
www.giveghanahelp.org

Korle-Bu Neuroscience Foundation (KBNF)
KBNF provides help for people with brain damage and spinal injuries in Ghana and West Africa.
http://kbnf.org/about/

PCN volunteers
Prime Care Network offers basic education for street children and raises awareness of HIV/AIDS.
www.pcnvolunteers.org

One of the main objectives of the GHS is to reduce the number of work-related accidents. The Health Service is reaching out to companies in an effort to improve working conditions. This is an area for corporate involvement that is directly related to companies’ core business.

Company examples

Fresenius SE/Else Kröner Fresenius Foundation
The Else Kröner Fresenius Foundation supports medical and humanitarian aid projects at home and abroad. In 2009, the foundation helped to fund a project to promote early detection of cancer and cancer screening for women in Ghana and a German-Ghanaian gynecology training project, among others.
http://www.ekfs.de/de/medizinisch-humanitaere-projektfoerderung.html

Like many African countries, Ghana is fighting to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Companies might assist in educating the public about this disease and benefit their employees by providing medication and helping to fight discrimination. Under the Regional Coordination Unit for HIV & TB (ReCHT) program, GTZ is coordinating a variety of HIV and health projects in collaboration with private partners from Switzerland, the Netherlands, South Africa and the United States. For the most part these are comprehensive HIV and health projects intended for employees and their families and the surrounding communities.

Environment

There is little awareness of the concept of sustainability among the wider public in Ghana. A consciousness of environmental issues is only gradually emerging – along with a demand for appropriate corporate behavior. For decades, mining companies have extracted natural resources without regard for nature or for the need to protect the living environments of humans and animals. Waste water containing heavy metals contaminates rivers and further exacerbates the problem of a shortage of drinking water. For a long time, no compensation was made for the use of land by the mines.  

Basic information

CO2 emissions: 0.03% of total global emissions (2007)

CO2 emissions per capita: 0.4 metric tons (2006)

Electricity consumption: 5.7 billion kWh (2007) 

Water consumption (households/industry/agriculture): Total: 0.98 km3/year (24%/10%/66%); water consumption per capita: 44 m3/year (2000)

The timber industry also poses a threat to the natural environment. Each year, the country’s forests decrease in size by approximately two percent. After gold and cocoa, exotic woods are Ghana’s most important export. According to estimates by the WWF in 2002, up to 60 percent of the logging that takes place in Ghana is illegal. In February 2010, Ghana concluded an agreement with the EU on sustainable timber exports that is intended to make it possible to trace the logs that are exported.

In cities such as the capital city of Accra, trash disposal and air pollution are the most pressing environmental problems. Only five percent of trash is recycled; the rest ends up in landfills or the ocean. Exhaust fumes from cars, which are often caught in traffic jams, produce constant smog. However, there are few alternatives to individual vehicles or minibuses, since there is no functioning system of city buses or trains. Work is to be done in this area over the next few years.

Participants

CEESD Ghana
The Centre for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development (CEESD) is a nonprofit institution offering technical solutions to such global problems as climate change, energy poverty and environmental pollution in Ghana and West Africa.
http://www.ceesdghana.org/

Environmental Protection Agency
As the name indicates, the Environmental Protection Agency is the government agency responsible for environmental protection in Ghana.
http://www.epa.gov.gh/

Microsfere
Microsfere focuses on both environmental protection and rural development, seeking to maintain natural diversity in West Africa. To that end, it provides microloans so that farmers can be flexible in planting their crops, encouraging sustainable land use.
http://www.microsfere.org/en

Nature Conservation Research Centre (NCRC)
The Nature Conservation Research Center (NCRC) protects the environment and promotes rural development through ecotourism.
http://www.ncrc-ghana.org/

Roundtable on Sustainable Palmoil (RSPO)
The local representatives of the RSPO make sure that ecologically sustainable and socially compatible methods of producing palm oil are used and assist in the certification process.
http://www.rspo-in-ghana.org/

THE GHANA WILDLIFE SOCIETY (GWS)
The GWS works to protect the environment and wildlife. http://www.ghanawildlifesociety.org/

Third World Network Africa (TWN)
The TWN is an NGO that is involved in research and public relations related to development and environmental protection.
http://www.twnafrica.org/

TROPENBOS INTERNATIONAL-GHANA
Tropenbos is devoted to the sustainable use of the tropical rain forest. http://www.tropenbos.org/

Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining Changes (WACAM)
The WACAM seeks to help communities that are adversely affected by the activities of commodities companies.
http://www.wacamghana.com/

WILDLIFE DIVISION of THE FORESTRY COMMISSION
The Wildlife Division is the organization of the Ghanaian government that is responsible for nature conservancy and manages the country’s nature preserves.
http://www.wildlifeghana.com/

German companies generally have a good reputation in the field of environmental technology and in the recycling of waste materials. If production standards similar to those in Germany are introduced, German companies might quickly become models for others to emulate.  

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Data & facts

Country: Ghana
Capital: Accra
Area: 238.537 km²
Population: 22,5 million
Economic system: Market economy with a large share of state-owned companies
Polity: Presidential democracy
Unemployment rate: High, 71,6% (2007)
Inflation rate (CPIX): 14% (March 2010)
GDP: USD 15.51 billion (2009 est.)
GDP/Head: USD 1,500 (2009 est.)
Religions: Christian 68.8%, Muslim 15.9%, traditional religions 8.5%, other 0.7%, no religion 6.1% (2000 census)
HDI: 152nd of 182 (2009)
CPI: 69th of 180 (2009)
BTI: Status Index: 26th of 128; Management Index: 12th of 128 (2010)

Further links

Further studies