Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
1006925374
Link(s) to full text
LAC copy
LAC copy
Author
Arthur, Peter Kow,1967-
Title
Promoting small-scale industries in Ghana : development institutions, culture and politics.
Degree
Ph. D. -- Queen's University, 2001
Publisher
Ottawa : National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, [2001]
Description
4 microfiches
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
While Ghana's initial focus of industrial development programmes after attaining independence in March 1957 was in the promotion of investment in large-scale import-substitution industries, the last decade has seen a significant and distinct shift in policy and theory towards the role of small-scale manufacturing in the development process. This is evident in the large number of public and private agencies with projects in that sector. Similarly, analysis of cultural factors and their role in the development process that disappeared from the structurally-focused theories, have once again become prominent. This study pulled together these issues and examined the activities of three agencies promoting small-scale industries: the National Board for Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI), the major government agency for small scale industries; the Ghana Regional Appropriate Technology Industrial Service (GRATIS), the public agency directly responsible and involved in technological development and transfer; and EMPRETEC Ghana Foundation, a non-governmental organization, which focuses on helping entrepreneurs to develop a professional management style. The study looked at the role of these agencies, and their programmes and services for client firms. In addition, the study focussed on the small-scale manufacturing firms being assisted by the agencies, and the impact of indigenous culture on their businesses. It interviewed the business owners, and examined whether the availability of services, and participation in programmes provided by the development institutions, changed or influenced their business practices and cultural orientation. All in all, the institutional and cultural factors that inhibit or promote the development of effective and profitable enterprises, and the extent to which an enterprise culture of instrumental rationality and more broadly-based social trust is emerging among small-scale manufacturers in Ghana was analyzed. While it has been suggested that the problems of industrial development in Ghana and other developing countries are culturally shaped, it is the view of this study that indigenous cultural practices in Ghana are not as obstructive as has been argued by many Eurocentric writers. Based on the evidence presented in this study, I argue that Ghana's industrial development process has not fully taken-off because of institutional constraints confronting the manufacturing sector. As Paul Jackson points out, economic and industrial development can be stimulated when there is a harmonious relationship between manufacturers and their institutional environment much of which is provided by the state, through support in areas such as training, information, finance, export and investment promotion, equitable enforcement of laws, greater level of political transparency, and objectivity in governmental procedures and processes.
ISBN
0612560732
9780612560734