Journal of Black Studies

Volume 39 Number 6
July 2009 974-989
© 2009 SAGE Publications
Ghana’s Construction 10.1177/0021934707306582
http://jbs.sagepub.com
Industry and Global hosted at
http://online.sagepub.com

Competition
A Research Note
George O. Assibey-Mensah
Indiana University Northwest

Doing business in Ghana could not have come at a better time. In the name
of globalization, the government of President Kufuor has liberalized trade so
that foreign construction companies easily compete with Ghana’s own con-
struction firms for big-ticket contracts. A major consequence of the bidding
policy, however, is that globalization has negatively affected the nation’s
indigenous construction contractors in competing with large, international,
private corporations for public contracts in Ghana. The situation has rendered
indigenous entrepreneurs not only virtually helpless but also continually
lacking vital resources. This article examines the current predicament of
Ghana’s indigenous construction businesses in terms of their inability to
effectively compete with foreign construction firms. The author proposes
meaningful ways in which the government should formulate a much-needed
framework for developing, nurturing, and sustaining their operational infra-
structure with the view to preparing them to compete effectively with foreign
businesses, particularly for lucrative public-construction contracts in Ghana.

Keywords: Ghana; construction industry; global competition

S ince the government of President John Agyekum Kufuor assumed

office in January 2001, it has created a most conducive environment for
entrepreneurships of all types to successfully operate in the country. For
instance, domestic businesses operating in the communication industry
(e.g., mobile-phone entities) have clearly found a niche in the country’s
economy, facilitating the continued realization or achievement of their bot-
tom line. However, those operating in the construction industry cannot
effectively compete with foreign firms because they lack the vital or crucial
capabilities (e.g., money, equipment, managerial know-how, etc.) required
to be successful contract bidders. In light of that, this article’s primary focus
is on the country’s construction industry’s crisis in terms of its deficiencies
974

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 Assibey-Mensah / Ghana’s Construction Industry 975

in those resources or capabilities. Abernethy’s (1988) work clearly symbol-

izes Ghana’s postcolonial crisis, especially with respect to the perceived
role of this crucial industry in the country’s economic development.
Using a needs-assessment philosophy, the author endorses the view that
the government’s application of an effective policy analysis within the con-
text of strategic management could rescue the nation’s weak indigenous con-
struction businesses from their current serious plight. The article argues that
because the nation’s economic development and growth rely heavily on the
physical infrastructure created by the construction industry, the government
should systematically examine and solve that industry’s problems and/or
concerns. It does so by first discussing the current state of affairs of the
indigenous construction businesses stemming from their lack of the essen-
tial resources generally required for successful operations. It then explores
meaningful ways in which the government should rescue them from their
present-day plight, finally examining the public-policy implications of gov-
ernmental assistance to them. Specifically, this is a strategic-management
and policy-analysis article aimed at assisting the government of Ghana to
institutionalize an effective framework for developing, continually nurtur-
ing, and sustaining the nation’s indigenous construction businesses.
A brief history of the country’s construction-industry entrepreneurs’
activities follows. The purpose is to examine the extent to which their
involvement in the nation’s construction industry has traditionally focused
on contributing to domestic physical-infrastructure development, not on
looking beyond the nation so as to internationalize their operations via the
formation of “partnerships” with either domestic or potential foreign con-
struction businesses. To be sure, internationalization would help them to
develop and sustain the crucial skills required for successful participation in
contract-bid management. In essence, the following background discussion
provides the reasons supporting the need for the government to act now.

Ghana’s Construction-Industry Entrepreneurs:

From the Early Years

Prior to and immediately after Ghana gained its political independence

from Britain on March 6, 1957, its construction industry was dominated by
such giant organizations as Taylor Woodrow Company and A Lang Company,
among other foreign firms operating in the country. The country’s own
public-sector construction agency, the State Construction Corporation (SCC),
was established in 1961 with the primary goal of constructing highways,

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976 Journal of Black Studies

feeder roads, urban roads, and so forth, in the most cost-effective and effi-
cient manner. Generally, its estimates for the construction, maintenance, and
repair of physical-transportation infrastructure were more realistic in com-
parison to those prepared or submitted by its domestic private-sector com-
petitors. For many years, it performed its responsibilities quite well as it
became the virtual undertaker of Ghana’s lucrative construction projects
and/or activities. In formulating comprehensive programs covering specific
time frames, it ensured that obsolete and unserviceable equipment and
machinery were boarded. However, in ensuing years, it was confronted with
many operational bottlenecks, including (a) underestimation of projects and
(b) inability to meet performance targets. Those deficiencies led to increases
in government expenditures, rendering the agency a public liability.
When it acceded to power on December 31, 1981, Ghana’s Provisional
National Defence Council (PNDC) was confronted with finding effective
ways to reverse the country’s severe economic decline of the 1970s, includ-
ing a deteriorated road network. Among its strategies to fine-tune the econ-
omy was its initiation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)–proposed
Economic Recovery Program (ERP).1 The poor state of the country’s road
network, coupled with inadequate budgetary funding, posed serious prob-
lems that undermined the success of the ERP. Consequently, the govern-
ment, in collaboration with the World Bank’s International Development
Agency (IDA), began the Road Rehabilitation and Maintenance Project
(RRMP), commonly called the Fourth Highway Project (Republic of
Ghana, 1990-1992) to rectify that situation.
Many of the beneficiaries were foreign construction firms, primarily
because of their better machinery and equipment, among other assets, lead-
ing to their expatriation of huge sums of money into their home accounts.
Meanwhile, indigenous Ghanaian constructing companies, losing their bids
for many of the contracts, continually suffered a major blow to their quest
to effectively compete for such lucrative contracts. Concerns about the
SCC’s shortcomings also continued to mount with public complaints,
including management’s use of public assets for personal gains, outsourc-
ing public contracts to personal businesses (anonymous former union exec-
utive of the SCC, personal communication, July 11, 2002), and increased
expenditures as a result of ghosting (particularly, payment of supplies or
items that were not actually delivered; see Mikesell, 2007).
Public concerns about the SCC’s mismanagement soared, seemingly
justifying the government to permit the governments of both European
countries (especially Britain, Italy, and Germany) and Asian countries
(especially Korea and China) to send their own home-based construction

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 Assibey-Mensah / Ghana’s Construction Industry 977

companies to assist with its economic-reconstruction activities. The pro-

jects that they undertook include(d):

• building and maintaining many major roads connecting the country’s

major cities and towns;
• rehabilitating the major ports at Takoradi and Tema;
• rehabilitating the country’s numerous networks of water-supply/sewage
systems and their pumphouses;
• rehabilitating stream-gauging networks; and
• maintaining coastal-protection works.

On the part of the nation’s indigenous construction companies—the private

participants in the country’s infrastructure development—the situation led
(and still leads) to

• a wider gap between them and their foreign competitors as a result of their
inability to develop and sustain a formidable investment base in equipment/
machinery;
• a serious lack of equipment/machinery and managerial know-how required
for their effective involvement in their chosen occupation; and
• loss of confidence in their quest to be a major force with which their own
government can reckon to help with national development and growth in
the physical-infrastructural sector of the economy.

Meanwhile, many indigenous construction companies had gradually

sprouted in all the regions, competing for lucrative government contracts
with European and Asian companies for the construction of projects
designed to meet the basic needs of the nation’s vulnerable groups. Those
indigenous firms operated with a “non-businesslike culture” of seeking and
obtaining about 10% of their contractually agreed money from the govern-
ment and not making any serious efforts to complete their projects. In light
of that situation, the government started accepting bids from large, foreign
construction firms.
As a result of the unethical and unprofessional conditions under which
the state-owned SCC was being managed, it was divested in 1998-1999,
facilitating the extent to which the country’s indigenous construction firms
now have to compete unsuccessfully for construction contracts with large,
well-equipped, and well-managed foreign construction businesses, which
also complete projects on time. When will the government attend to the
basic needs of its own national construction firms? Or, when will these
indigenous contractors be able to stand on their feet and also be able to
effectively compete for construction contracts with foreign companies?

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978 Journal of Black Studies

Those questions (and many more) lend themselves to suggestions to the

government to ponder so as to relieve its own national entrepreneurs from
their current pitiful state of affairs.

Recommendations

This article assumes that the government has a policy framework within
which it stipulates the requirements, criteria, and so forth, justifying the
award of construction contracts to bidders. However, because those require-
ments continually stymie the development of its own national construction
firms, there is the urgent need to revisit its construction contract and award
policy within the context of needs assessment, policy analysis, and strate-
gic management. Needs assessment is a very effective technique used for
the formulation/development, adoption, and execution of training-related
decisions that will benefit an organization and its beneficiaries. For the pur-
pose of this article, that organization is the government of Ghana.
Policy analysis is the application of systematic and rigorous research to
enable government to make better choices for the effective, efficient, and
economical delivery of goods/service to the public. Strategic management
refers to the process by which an organization attempts to determine what
needs to be done to accomplish established objectives and, more important,
how those objectives are to be achieved in the long term. Implicit in that
process is the central idea that all efforts involving the management of
resources revolve around the alignment of an organization’s overall strategy
with what needs to be done to achieve its objectives and how it will attain
those objectives.
Besides, it provides credence to having a set of decisions and actions
used to formulate and implement strategies that will provide a good “fit”
between the organization and its environment so as to achieve organiza-
tional goals. For the purpose of this article, “organizational environment”
generally refers to the governmental policy framework as well as the cir-
cumstances confronting the indigenous construction firms that continually
fall short of earning big-ticket public contracts.

Assessment of the Needs of Indigenous

Construction Firms

Gone are those days when Ghana’s small-scale construction companies

used a few tractors and rollers, among other heavy machinery, to maintain,

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 Assibey-Mensah / Ghana’s Construction Industry 979

repair, or build roads. Globalization has come to stay2 and with it goes
intense competition among indigenous and foreign companies for many
lucrative projects. The government, therefore, has to identify the vital ori-
entation-training needs of its national construction firms, including teach-
ing broad skills required for improved managerial/technical expertise. Also
included in that training package must be ways to assist them to acquire
proper and adequate machinery and equipment required for their effective
and efficient operations and familiarizing them with the types of businesses
they should form or join to promote synergy in their operations.
Among the business types that the government should assist its indigenous
construction businesses to form or join are strategic alliances and interfirm
cooperation (including contractual agreements, management contracts, infor-
mal cooperations, consortia, joint ventures, and equity participation). Strategic
alliances are either formal or informal arrangements between two or more
business companies that share a common objective. Such partnerships can
range in forms from interfirm cooperation to joint ownership of global activi-
ties. For example, Oakley Ghana Limited of Chicago, Illinois, United States,3
may enter into a partnership with a Ghanaian firm specializing in the con-
struction of feeder roads using such terms as “alternative sourcing agreement.”
A Ghanaian construction business also may enter into a similar deal with
Oakley Ghana Limited, which specializes in port-rehabilitation, using such
terms as “cooperative project development and exchange of technical data.”
Contractual agreements are joint efforts made by business firms for cross-
licensing and the like. For instance, Oakley and a Ghanaian firm may enter
into a contract for the “joint construction and development” of feeder roads
and private residences within the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS)4 subregion or beyond. In addition, such agreements can
be used for outsourcing, a major strategy used by businesses as they inves-
tigate various ways to simultaneously reduce cost, grow, and survive com-
petition. The government also may insist on complete or majority ownership
of companies, causing multinational companies (MNCs) to switch to an
alternative technique of enlarging their overseas business in what is known
as a management contract. In this kind of deal, the company sells its exper-
tise in operating the business while avoiding the ownership risk or benefit. It
may even permit some form of control, depending on how extensive the con-
tract may be. Such deals are typical and protect foreigners’ investments,
especially when a firm has been partly expropriated by a government.
Under informal cooperations, the parties in the deal operate without any
binding agreement. The dynamics of the relations include visits to exchange
information on new construction products, technologies, and so forth.

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980 Journal of Black Studies

Based on mutual trust, this also may be formalized because personnel

exchanges may take place for a limited amount of time. An example may
be an agreement between Oakley Ghana Limited and a well-situated
Ghanaian company promoting periodic visits by each other’s personnel to
exchange information on crucial customer-care needs and how they could
be efficiently met via new technologies.
The U.S. Joint Research and Development Act of 1984 permits both
domestic and foreign firms to participate in joint basic-research activities
without fear of antitrust action. For example, to reduce the high costs involved
in transporting heavy construction machinery and equipment across
national borders, a Ghanaian construction company and an American coun-
terpart may establish a research consortium to develop new construction
technologies. (In another unrelated instance, to reduce high start-up costs in
the manufacture and distribution of natural gas cylinders in Ghana and the
subregion, a Ghanaian energy-research group could form a consortium with
Whirlpool [of the United States].)
Joint ventures refer to two or more companies in an enterprise in which
each party contributes assets, has some equity, and also shares operational
risks. Partners’ equality is not necessary because each partner’s funds,
skills, and so forth, vary. The venture relationship is deemed to be long
term. Among the reasons for such relationships are one partner’s needs for
other partners’ expertise/skills, legislation or public demand, and one part-
ner’s needs for other partners’ assets. The crucial element in a joint venture
is the sharing of a common business objective. Even though the partners’
motives for entering into the relation may vary, the operation may be the
only way the partners’ firms can successfully compete and participate in a
particular market. A joint venture is valuable, especially when pooling
resources results in a better outcome for each participant than if each of the
participants were to individually conduct the operations. This also is true
when each partner has a specialized advantage or expertise in an area or
areas that ultimately result(s) in a better outcome for their joint efforts. It
also prevents intense competition with foreign firms, facilitating their ongo-
ing development and nurturing and eventual sustenance.
Joint ventures promote good relationships with local governments and
other organizations (e.g., unions). This is so because joint ventures operate
4 times more frequently in less-developed countries than in developing
economies. Thus, they are more receptive in less-developed countries than
in the advanced economies. Thus, the local partner’s culture and environ-
ment may be a major factor contributing to the venture’s ongoing growth
and success.

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 Assibey-Mensah / Ghana’s Construction Industry 981

India restricts equity participation in local operations by foreigners to

40%. To ensure supplier reliability and build more formal/informal rela-
tionships worldwide, many MNCs acquire minority ownerships in compa-
nies with strategic importance to their bottom-line operations. An example
of this is Ford Motor’s 33.4% share in Mazda. Construction partners in this
type of relationship continue to enjoy each other’s strengths. Equity own-
ership in an innovative partnership could result in the Ghanaian company’s
easy or ready access to new technologies.
The success of the various forms of interfirm cooperation described
above depends on (among other things) finding the right partner (with
patience and trust) and having a well-negotiated contract (venture and its
duration, ownership, record-keeping, control, financial structure, employ-
ment and training, production, marketing, dispute settlement, etc.). To
enhance these innovative practices, the government of Ghana should ensure
that its policies and attitudes are systematically evaluated and understood
by construction partners. Awareness of the turbulent global markets also
must be ongoing so as to reduce participants’ shock, despair, and eventual
termination of such invaluable relationships.
Besides strategic alliances and the various types of interfirm cooperation
described above, full ownership is another (and typical) way that Ghana’s
construction firms operate. The management of IBM held the belief, in the
early 1990s, that by relinquishing a portion of its overseas ownership it
would be setting a precedent for shared control with local partners that
would cost more than what could possibly be gained. As a result, the
company withdrew operations from countries instead of agreeing to gov-
ernment demands for local ownership. For some business partners or firms,
the foreign direct investment is, at least initially, considered a 100% own-
ership. The rationale may be not wanting any external entity to influence
business or corporate decision making. IBM’s belief and consequent deci-
sion was financially based.
Before discussing how policy analysis should play a crucial role in
assisting Ghana’s indigenous construction firms, it seems appropriate to
shed light on the significance of business ownership. To rationalize deci-
sions about business ownership, management must review the importance
of control to the success of international operations. Full ownership often
may be a desirable, and unnecessary, factor for international success.
Construction-company management ought to be aware that the business
venture is a system of different integral parts, which should coordinate to
reach that common objective: realizing the bottom line. In light of that, the
general conditions in the market may make it advisable for entrepreneurs

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982 Journal of Black Studies

(e.g., Chicago-based Oakley Ghana Limited) to join forces with local enti-
ties. The rationale is as follows: Because the Kufuor government is very
receptive to any type of legitimate business operating in Ghana, joining
forces with local entities would position them in charge of public relations,
a major ingredient for the success of the business.
Both local presence (using the various options of interfirm cooperation)
and full ownership can be used by themselves or in addition to exporting
and importing. The old adage “look before you leap” is applicable to the
entrepreneur wishing to be an interfirm-cooperative partner of an already-
existing company or a full owner of a company when operating in Ghana.
She or he should not allow her or his enthusiasm to blind her or him from
facing the realities (i.e., the advantages and disadvantages) of the various
approaches to entering the global market.
In essence, there is tremendous potential for successful interfirm cooper-
ation and full ownership when conducting business in Ghana. As an entre-
preneur, one must continually examine one’s business objectives in hopes of
realizing them via those avenues that would effectively and efficiently
accomplish the bottom line. Needless to say, measures have to be in place to
promote successful interfirm cooperation and full ownership, including
compliance with government policies, which the Kufuor administration has
clarified for would-be entrepreneurs of all types through government agen-
cies such as the Ghana Investment-Promotion Center5 (the GIPC).
Failure to comply with those policies would contribute to realities,
including stymied entrepreneurship growth and competition, the lack of
attention to market forces, and misallocated resources. Those phenomena
were evidenced in the former Soviet Union and its allied countries of
Eastern Europe. Entrepreneurs operating in Ghana should not follow that
route (see Ingram & Mann, 1980).
Strategic alliances, interfirm cooperations, and full ownership are viable
ways by which Ghana’s construction entities can enter the international
business market from Ghana. Needless to say, entrepreneurs doing business
in Ghana, similar to elsewhere, have both opportunities to enjoy as well as
hurdles to clear. The government of President Kufuor has clearly endorsed
economic development with its transparent policies that are successfully
implemented by the GIPC, among other key government agencies.
Businesses, including Ghana’s indigenous construction companies, do
not become experienced in the international arena overnight; they progress
gradually via an internationalization process. Even though going overseas
may not be for all entrepreneurs, they must attempt to be proactively stim-
ulated through aggressive resource management and be successful. Among

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 Assibey-Mensah / Ghana’s Construction Industry 983

the challenges of doing business abroad is gaining information. Therefore,

an entrepreneur’s opportunities in a strategic alliance, interfirm coopera-
tion, or full ownership start with how she or he has effectively planned her
or his use resources, particularly money and human resources.
Among other things, the need-assessment technique generally provides
a sound basis for identifying the needs of any intended target group(s) for
or beneficiaries of public assistance. In this article, “intended target groups”
refers to indigenous construction businesses. The technique is grounded in
and necessitated by sound policy analysis.

Conducting a Sound Analysis of Its

Entrepreneurial Policies

With a policy guiding or navigating what its indigenous construction

businesses have to comply with (e.g., ownership of a certain amount of cap-
ital, machinery, equipment, etc.), the government should undertake a com-
plete overhaul of its traditional practices underpinned in that policy. In
particular, it should start by placing emphasis on how it could improve the
management capabilities of those construction firms using such bodies as
the Private Enterprise Foundation6 (PEF). Through such public efforts, it
should fine-tune its general indicators of quality in the output of those busi-
nesses, setting barometers for high levels of excellence in their operations.
As a result, the indigenous companies should demonstrate a genuine
concern for creativity, innovation, and their occupation. This would facili-
tate their ongoing effective contribution to national economic growth as
they are able to identify possible solutions to their problems. Through cre-
ativity, they can generate alternatives, taking advantage of opportunities in
their industry, and should be willing to give up short-term gains to reach
long-range goals.

Institution of a Strategic-Management Mechanism

As earlier stated, strategic management is an organization’s attempt to

determine its needs and how to achieve those needs. Within the context of
this article, it involves decisions made by all levels of top management (i.e.,
ministers, department heads, and supervisors), the allocation of large sums of
resources (e.g., money, labor, or physical capacity), a significant long-term
effect on the intended target population (i.e., the indigenous construction

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984 Journal of Black Studies

firms), and a focus on the government’s interaction with the external envi-
ronment (including competitor foreign construction companies). As such,
the government should involve the intended beneficiaries in the policy-
making process for their input (Nakamura & Smallwood, 1980).7
It is, therefore, up to Ghana’s top-level management team to examine the
various ways in which the construction entrepreneurs operate; examine the
various environments within which they operate; and most of all, attempt to
establish the appropriate and optimal “fit” between governmental imperatives
and entrepreneurial activities. The overall purpose of finding that fit is to both
promote and sustain the entrepreneurs’ success in their competitive business.
The set of actions and activities that usually takes place in this crucial
process is hinged to the strategic planning of the needs of both the govern-
ment and its construction entrepreneurs. Of particular significance is the
extent to which the government should establish a long-term time horizon
to annually review its entrepreneurial policies, as well as the needs of the
construction businesses, because gradual changes are made to ensure the
latter’s functional success.

Summary and Conclusions

This article has examined the current state of Ghana’s indigenous con-
struction businesses in terms of their virtual inability to effectively compete
with foreign construction firms in their own country. The situation, a negative
consequence of globalization, has engendered the domestic firms’ continued
lack of the vital resources that could effectively promote their development,
nurturing, and eventual sustenance. In light of that, the article has proposed
meaningful ways in which the government should initiate a much-needed
framework for developing, nurturing, and sustaining their operational infra-
structure with the view toward making them compete effectively with foreign
businesses, especially for lucrative government construction contracts.
In essence, Ghana’s indigenous construction businesses clearly stand no
chance of winning any of the big-ticket construction awards advertised by
their own government. Among the reasons for that situation is their lack of
managerial know-how as well as lack of the essential machinery and equip-
ment required for effective competition with well-equipped and well-
situated foreign businesses. To the extent that the situation continually
exacerbates their plight, this article has attempted to make the government
become very aware of the plight of its own entrepreneurs, who are helpless
in the land of their birth, especially in their chosen occupations/professions.

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 Assibey-Mensah / Ghana’s Construction Industry 985

Social, economic, and technological changes constantly plague our

global economy, within which Ghana’s indigenous construction firms are
captives, primarily because of their operational deficiencies or inadequa-
cies, as discussed above. What can the government do to enable them to
overcome those deficiencies or inadequacies? Recommendations have been
offered to that effect.
In this article, the challenge has been posed to the government to use
needs analysis as well as policy analysis and strategic-management tech-
niques to evaluate its relationship with its own national physical-infrastructure
repairers, maintainers, and builders. That challenge to the government now
and in the foreseeable future has never been greater. As if the challenge is
not enough, the government should consider the ultimate or eventual bene-
ficiaries of the work of the indigenous construction companies: its vulner-
able citizens and relevant populations (Long, 1992) who need simple
facilities, such as feeder roads, good water-supply systems, and so forth, for
their much-needed contribution to national economic development and
growth.
If public administration is an activity, a discipline, and an intellectual
concern that lies at the heart of both current and political discussion, it also
means that no government can conduct it alone (Korten, 1984). That is why
governments must assist the private sector whenever necessary, regulating
it with policies that benefit both. If globalization demands continual
changes in governments’ service-delivery mechanisms, it is of paramount
importance that they continually reengineer their policies to assist entre-
preneurs to function in a globalized setting and create a conducive environ-
ment for the private sector to benefit from globalization by competing
favorably (or successfully) in the international marketplace (Hope, 2002).
This is true simply because, indifferent to national borders, globalization
has made nations lose most of the sovereignty they once had as goods, cap-
ital, and people move freely in an interdependent mode (Giddens, 2000).
In addition, globalization has increasingly put national policies (e.g.,
economic, social, technological, etc.) previously under the jurisdiction of
states and people within a country under the influence of international orga-
nizations and processes and, in some instances, large private corporations
(Khor, 2000). Such is the situation confronting Ghana’s construction entre-
preneurs, who seriously lack and need the vital or crucial competencies that
could render them competitive in their bids for construction contracts with
well-financed and well-equipped foreign contracting firms in Europe, Asia,
and elsewhere. Against that scenario, the demands on the country’s con-
struction industry have never been greater.

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986 Journal of Black Studies

Furthermore, against that scenario, the Ghanaian government needs to

adapt to a global mindset with a transformational lens that would turn its
own indigenous construction companies into competent and competitive
business people. Doing so would gradually convert their threats into oppor-
tunities, motivating them to survive and excel in their quest for lucrative
construction contracts that they continually lose in the atmosphere of
intense competition with large foreign firms. Simply put, those demands
clearly obligate Ghana’s government to assist its own indigenous construc-
tion entrepreneurs.
There is no simple formula for the government’s solution to the problem
discussed in the article. The first step to tackle the situation would provide
an invaluable base for solving a situation that will endure for many years if
it is not given the immediate attention it so deserves.
What is suggestive of the foregoing conclusions in terms of the govern-
mental policy-making process? The next section responds to that question, as
the recommendations proposed in this discussion clearly affect that process.

Implications for Public Policy

Public policies are judged by consequences, not by their innate qualities

(Hampshire, 1978). Therefore, after institutionalizing policies to advance
the cause of its domestic entrepreneurs, the government must establish a
timeline of, for example, 5 to 10 years to review the effectiveness and out-
comes of its policy objectives geared toward the stimulation, development,
and eventual sustenance of those firms. Because those firms belong to a
particular category of entrepreneurs operating within its national borders, it
should encourage organizations, such as the PEF, to continually provide
meaningful forums and suggestions that would promote their work success
as they (e.g., the PEF) interact frequently with the construction-business
management and their personnel.
Moreover, because diversified talents are required for successful opera-
tions in this global economy, Ghana’s government requires both specialists
and generalists in the construction industry to ensure their more effective
contribution to the constantly changing national economy. A major biprod-
uct of the government’s assistance to those businesses would be the “sea-
soning,” or production, of more capable owners/managers who could
effectively compete for and win lucrative contracts in their very own country
as they (a) gradually acquire the essential capacities and/or resources that
would facilitate their self-confidence in their pursuit of contracts; (b) form

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 Assibey-Mensah / Ghana’s Construction Industry 987

and solidify partnerships, particularly with other indigenous construction

businesses; and (c) become effective contributors to the nation’s economic
development, economic growth (Killick, 1983),8 and vital physical infra-
structure, especially in road transportation.
Given the resource inadequacies (e.g., managerial know-how, monetary)
of those businesses, another gain to the government would clearly be the
firms’ ability not only to make money or more money but also to retain
more of their earned money in the nation’s banks in both foreign and
domestic accounts for continued economic development, particularly for
job creation. The government also should encourage all entrepreneurs oper-
ating in the nation’s economy to continually participate in management-
training/educational programs offered by the PEF, and so forth. An
invaluable public benefit would certainly be a solidification of the nation’s
wealth of managerial competence and/or capacity in this ever-changing,
knowledge-based, global economy that is dominated by large foreign cor-
porations, such as Ghana’s well-situated construction-industry competitors.
This article intends to show that, when it begins to measure the out-
comes of its institutionalized policies for the advancement of its indigenous
construction contractors, the Ghanaian government will realize that it has
certainly established a most successful and enduring partnership with its
domestic entrepreneurs. To be sure, indeed, public policies are assessed by
their consequences and not by their innate qualities.

Notes
1. Ghana adopted a 4-year Economic Recovery Program (ERP) following a suggestion, in
1982, by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Its main objective was to have the govern-
ment undertake systematic analyses and studies that could lead to major restructuring of the
nation’s economic institutions with the view to bringing about real improvements in the
people’s standard of living via prudent budgeting. Approval of IMF loans to realize that objec-
tive was conditioned on governmental actions, including the annual reductions of mounting
budget deficits by 2.6% of gross domestic product (GDP).
2. Opening address from Ambassador Alan Kyerematen, now Minister of Trade, Industry,
Private-Sector Development, and President’s Special Initiatives. Presented at the first Ghana
International Conference to attract investments for the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Eastern, and
Western Regions, March 20-21, 2003, Washington, DC.
3. Oakley Construction Company, Inc., is a two-person partnership operated in Chicago,
Illinois. Since 2004, it has opened an office in Ghana, operating under the name Oakley Ghana
Limited.
4. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of 15
countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, the Republic of Cabo Verde, the Republic of Cote D’Ivoire,
the Republic of Gambia, the Republic of Ghana, the Republic of Guinee, the Republic of
Guinee Bissau, the Republic of Liberia, the Republic of Mali, the Republic of Niger, the

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988 Journal of Black Studies

Republic of Nigeria, the Republic of Sierra Leone, the Republic of Senegal, and the Togolese
Republic) founded in 1975. Its mission is to promote economic integration in “all fields of eco-
nomic activity, especially industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural
resources, commerce, monetary and financial matters, social and cultural matters . . . .” It is
headquartered in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.
5. The Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) was established in 1994 by the Ghana
Investment Promotion Act to promote and facilitate investments in all sectors of the economy.
That mission is supposed to be accomplished by initiating and supporting measures that will
encourage both Ghanaian and non-Ghanaian companies to invest in the country, identifying
and promoting specific projects, and so forth.
6. Since the 1970s, the government has recognized the need to encourage the establishment
of organizations that will assist all forms/types of businesses to operate successfully. Among
such entities is the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF), which promotes business firms’ activ-
ities by providing them advice on how to start a business, personnel training, loan manage-
ment, and so forth. Another key organization is EMPRETEC, which provides consulting and
management assistance to businesses.
7. Nakamura and Smallwood (1980) offer insightful suggestions to policy makers. Defining
implementation as “the process of carrying out authoritative public directives,” they classify the
kinds of relationships that can exist among different actors as bureaucratic and political. Of rel-
evance to this article is their argument that political pressures and constraints influence or affect
the processes of policy making, policy execution, and policy evaluation. Thus, to enhance coop-
eration between the Ghanaian government and its national construction firms, the former should
involve the latter in policy making that seeks and promotes the latter’s interests.
8. Using data on Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, and Zambia, Killick (1983) offers invaluable
ideas as to how African governments can foster economic development and industrialization.
Explicit in those ideas is an effective governmental role in assisting entrepreneurs, such as
Ghana’s indigenous construction businesses, to acquire and sustain the prerequisites for entre-
preneurial success in competing with foreign firms with enormous resources (e.g., money,
machinery/equipment, managerial know-how/skills).

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George O. Assibey-Mensah is associate professor in the School of Public & Environmental

Affairs at Indiana University Northwest. He researches on issues and problems in comparative
and international administration, entrepreneurship, and public-policy analysis.

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