Abstract
Privatisation has become a major policy instrument in many countries since the mid- 1970s. In many developing countries like Ghana, Privatisation was embraced as part of wider Economic Recovery programmes/Structural Adjustment programmes on the recommendations of the International donor agencies, notably, the World Bank and the IMF. The primary reason usually cited in defence of Privatisation is to improve the efficiency of the public sector and thus reduce the excessive drain of the sector on national budget.The global trend in Privatisation and the importance attached to it by many countries, particularly Ghana calls for better knowledge and understanding of the concept not only by policy makers but also by the citizenry at large. Such knowledge will not only remove various prejudices in the minds of policy makers but also remove current resistance being put up by the citizenry. This study is therefore aimed at acquiring an in-depth knowledge of the economic concept of Privatisation. The study largely covers available literature on Privatisation, with an extensive examination of both theoretical and empirical studies available on the subject.
The purpose of this thesis is to thoroughly examine the Divestiture Programme of Ghana to ascertain the nature and overall direction of the programme. Problems encountered in the process are also analysed as well as the achievements made so far. A more analytical review of the process was however hindered by lack of data especially on the pre-divestiture records of SOEs. However, the scanty information available indicates that the divestiture programme so far has succeeded in turning the fortunes of some hitherto inefficient SOEs around, and has had some observable impact on employment as well as on the growth and development of the Ghana Stock Exchange. These observations are however not conclusive and there is the need for further analysis to determine the extent to which the programme has met its objectives. Nevertheless, the basic aim of an in-depth understanding of the concept of Privatisation has been largely achieved in this study.
| Date of Award | Jul 2002 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | Sajid Anwar (Supervisor) |