African Ideology And Ghana - 1444 Words

The prime minister of Ghana and the first African head of a West African country freed from colonization, Kwame Nkrumah, followed a pan-African ideology and hoped to be the one who would guide Africa in a unified direction, leading an independent Africa that was industrialized and powerful (Muehlenbeck 2012: 17). Despite his ambition, or maybe because of it, his policies virtually bankrupted Ghana through a focus on large industrial projects that did not form a good base for the industrialization he hoped for in his country. Additionally the discrepancies between the ways he handled his political relations in private and in public for the sake of protecting his image contributed to the trouble Ghana faced. Kwame Nkrumah went to†¦show more content†¦May 23, 2016). Unfortunately, things did not work out this way. Firstly, Nkrumah had much difficulty securing the funds to build the Volta Dam. Originally the British, who were still in control of Ghana at the time, were going to fund the dam but backed out, citing the high costs and the decline of British colonial power (Black Power, BBC: 1992). Afterwards, Ghana spent much time trying to secure the money needed for the project, but the United States was unwilling to earmark the amount of funds, and Nkrumah was unable to get the World Bank to approve a loan for the money he needed. The only solution provided was from either the Soviet Union or the private sector of America, and so Nkrumah found himself directed toward Kaiser Aluminum (Muehlenbeck 2012: 20). This is where more issues began to form. Kaiser Aluminum, like some other companies, did not give Ghana the kind of beneficial deals they sought with their industrialization projects and Nkrumah did not pursue other options that would have been better deals for his country. For Kaiser Aluminu m, they refused to work with Nkrumah’s plan unless he conceded the use of Ghanaian bauxite and instead let them import it. They explained this away as just concern for the difference in aluminum quality the bauxite would provide, but were also largely motivated by the threat of Ghana repurposing the aluminumShow MoreRelatedEssay about The Gold Coast after Gaining Independence from Colonialism1368 Words   |  6 PagesIn 1957, Ghana gained independence from Britain. Ghanaian kingdoms varied religiously, ethnically, and culturally. Because of this, Ghana, which the regions of Togo and the Ivory Coast presently surround, has been plagued with the effects of too much ethnic diversity.The developing movements for political expansion of early established kingdoms created the foundation for the later independence movements. 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