Ghana has third-highest income inequality in ECOWAS, Prof. Bokpin
Ghana needs to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030, Economist
Ghana is required to accelerate efforts aimed at improving inequality by eliminating extreme poverty by 2030 to bridge the gap.
This is according to economist and finance lecturer, Professor Godfred Bokpin at the University of Ghana-Legon.
Addressing participants at a stakeholder forum organised by SEND Ghana, Prof. Bokpin said Ghana has the third-highest income inequality in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), rising in recent years.
“It is our own actions and inactions that are manifesting in the inequality that we are seeing. Our country crossed a certain threshold that is inhibiting growth, because beyond a certain level of inequality it affects growth; and it affects our ability to improve the wellbeing of Ghanaians. Ghana has crossed this limit, and that’s why we must take the discussion of inequality seriously,” he is quoted by the B&FT Newspaper.
Delivering a presentation at the forum, Prof. Godfred Bokpin described Ghana’s inequality status as rather detrimental which poses a threat to security.
“The reason it is so serious is that the widening inequality is also a threat to our security; the fact that a few Ghanaians are well to do at the top and a majority of Ghanaians go to bed not knowing where their next meal will come from in the morning makes it unsafe for them and all of us,” Prof. Bokpin said.
Meanwhile, a 2021 CRII report indicates Ghana placed 121st out of 158 countries globally on the overall inequality index.
On the index for equitable public services and labour rights, Ghana ranked 113th and 128th respectively while it 68th when it came to the implementation of tax policies. Read Full Story
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