Ghana's oil will start to flow in 2011, maybe even before, and most of its known reserves will be extracted in the immediate years after. The promise of oil generates expectations of all sorts, the more so as Ghana currently grapples with a macroeconomic crisis of significant proportions. This overview discusses the Ghana-specific nature of these challenges and explores possible options to address them. In doing so, it builds on seven thematic chapters which look at different aspects of the question: (1) oil facts, (2) political economy, (3) public financial management, (4) infrastructure, (5) private sector development, (6) agriculture, and (7) poverty. While the overview tries to bring together the findings of these different chapters, further details and discussions on each of these topics can be found in o f the chapters themselves. It concludes that while oil revenue will not be large enough to radically transform Ghana, it could, if improperly managed, impose enough stress on non-oil sectors to severely undermine Ghana's medium term development prospects. Hence the huge premium and responsibilities put on Ghana's successive authorities to wisely manage the oil wealth to promote the development of the non-oil sectors.
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