from NEWSLINK, Vol. 7, No. 3, Spring 2003

The Beacon Hill Institute is exporting its expertise on competitiveness to Ghana.

The Association Liaison Office for University Cooperation in Development (ALO), financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development, recently awarded BHI and the Suffolk University Department of Economics a grant of $125,636 to train faculty and staff from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.

The project will train academic staff from Ghana so that they in turn will be able to train managers in the city of Sekondi-Takoradi in improving the competitiveness of that city. Throughout this process, BHI will provide instruction in the importance to economic competitiveness of private property, the rule of law, contracts, low taxes and limited government.

BHI will work with members of the Economics faculty in:

1) furthering collaboration between BHI, the University of Cape Coast, and Sekondi-Takoradi municipal government on development challenges;
2) strengthening of the capacities of the University of Cape Coast and the Sekondi-Takoradi municipal government in local and regional economic and social development; and
3) providing economic and social policy advice to the Sekondi-Takoradi municipal government.
Sekondi-Takoradi is the third largest city in Ghana. It is a port city of about half a million and is a “sister city” with Boston. An active local committee, Boston-Sekondi-Takoradi Sister City Association, BOSETA, has been promoting links between the two cities since 2001. The economy of Ghana is one of the most liberal and open in Africa.

BHI will help develop one training module on managerial and administrative techniques and another on the techniques and methods of strategic planning/competitiveness. The Institute will also conduct a workshop on the economic competitiveness of the municipality and the region.

Lastly, it will help establish an “economic intelligence unit” at UCC linked to local governments, beginning with the government of Sekondi-Takoradi. This unit will serve as a clearinghouse of data for prospective investors and municipal managers in Ghana. It will also be a valuable resource for researchers and create opportunities for universities to engage more fully in policy debates.

Prior to the start of the project, the BHI project team met with Mayor Philip Nkrumah of Sekondi-Takoradi and Governor Joseph Aidoo of the Western Region of Ghana when they visited Boston. Both men expressed strong support for the project.

A delegation from the University of Cape Coast will visit Boston in June for two weeks for the initial “training of trainers” phase. Later this year, a group from BHI will visit Ghana to present papers at a workshop, and to help develop ways in which Sekondi-Takoradi, and the surrounding region, can become more economically competitive. This project builds on BHI’s renowned work in the competitiveness arena, following the publication of well-received studies in 2001 and 2002.

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