In the last two decades, Ghana made significant gains in economic growth, health, education, democracy and governance.

Economic growth is averaging more than six percent each year and this country is one of the few in Africa expected to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the poverty rate by 2015. This growth is also enabling Ghana to achieve lower-middle-income status, though unexpectedly, following the rebasing of its GDP figures in November 2010. Despite these developments, however, the country continues to face a number of challenges, which inhibit progress toward broad-based growth, higher living standards, and good governance. High borrowing costs, unreliable supply of electric power and high transactions costs in land markets continue to be key constraints to broad-based economic growth. Further, while the rate of poverty has decreased significantly at the national level, rural areas are not achieving similar reductions. Reports by the World Bank (March 2011) also reflect a strong geographic disparity in income whereby the poverty rate is about 20 percent in the South, compared to about 60 percent in the North. Addressing this geographic divide remains an area of great importance, as its reduction is necessary to achieve broad-based economic growth and development. Moreover, while the country has realized significant positive results in health, education and governance, many Ghanaians do not have adequate access to high quality health services, educational programs and effective governance mechanisms.