In 2017, Ghana was the second-best growth performer in Africa with +7.9% (just behind Ethiopia). The main growth driver was investment in the oil sector as Ghana increased its production capacity (and should be able to repeat this in 2018). Other projects also helped to attract more foreign investment and to increase the overall capi¬tal stock, particularly those related to power generation. Moreover, cocoa production recovered, even if a part of the reported +25% increase in output is likely related to imports for re-exports from Côte d’Ivoire (where the price for cocoa is lower). All these positive developments also helped to attract bond financing and to ease the fiscal deficit more than expected, to -5.6% of GDP in 2017 from -9% in 2016. In 2018, growth is forecast to accelerate further to +8.5% as financial conditions are also quite supportive: inflation should fall to an average 10% in 2018, the lowest since 2012, and the import cover of foreign exchange reserves has increased to five months.
