The Impact of International Lending Institutions on Ghana's Society

This report analyzes the impact of international lending institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, on Ghana's social, economic, and political development, with a particular focus on the healthcare sector. It discusses the challenges posed by poverty, government failures, and resource distribution within Ghana, highlighting the role of international funding in addressing these issues. The report explores both the positive aspects, such as potential improvements in healthcare standards and economic growth, and the negative implications, including the implementation of policies that may favor investors and create complexities for the country. It also references the impact on Ghana's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the country's ability to provide for its population. The report concludes by noting the increased investment in healthcare by the Ghanaian government, supported by international assistance, and its effects on reducing mortality rates. The report uses multiple sources to support its arguments.

Running head: SOCIOLOGY OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY
Impacts of international lending institution on Ghana
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1SOCIOLOGY OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY
Ghana is a state of West Africa where most of the people are driven by poverty.
Total population of the state is twenty five million in average. Many steps have been taken to
secure the state from the curse of poverty, but all are in vain. There are certain riddles also
present that make the government initiatives sloth (Amanor & Ubink, 2016). Poverty and
government failures have affected many sectors of the state and health sector are one of them.
Health sector highlighted the performance index of a country and this report is discussing
about the condition of health care in Ghana and the role of the international lending
institution on the country has been mentioned in this report. It has been observed that Ghana
has a bad history in healthcare sector and it is not possible to develop the standard of the
health unite solely by the government of Ghana. Therefore, a necessity of private interference
in this matter has been developed. According to Markinen (2011), privatisation of health care
has been observed both in the rural and urban sector of Ghana. However, hurdles regarding
the private investment have not been reduced. The main problem is lack of resources. Frail
economic condition and misappropriate fund division are the main obstacle regarding the
unequal resource distribution. There are certain international organisations that have taken
initiatives to procure changes to the situation and willing to lend money with an intention to
develop the standard of finance in Ghana. A support has been given from the international
institutions to bring a change in the present state of Ghana (Ansah et al., 2015). However, the
international assistance are also criticised as it was presumed that certain negative or positive
impacts are present behind those support by those international organisations.
However, funding of the international organisations is helping the social, political
and financial framework of the country too. The funds obtained from the international
organisations are used to change the condition of Ghana so that the healthcare section can
become more promising compared to the present situation. In this situation, help from
International Monetary Fund and World Bank creates certain impacts on the social, financial

2SOCIOLOGY OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY
and political development of Ghana. This has also influenced the health sector of Ghana
(Fenenga et al., 2015). The social and financial parts are the two main instrument of a country
and the health care sectors are too much depended on them. Financial help can lead towards
the improvement of Gross Domestic Product that can be helpful to bring a productive
population. The primary function of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund is to
work with the government of Ghana and find out the main challenges regarding the overall
development. The mutual assimilation of government and politicians over the political
problems help to extend the theory of democracy and transparency.
However, in the countries like Ghana, there are many pessimistic obstacles present
which have been created by these international institutions and that sometimes hinders the
country. Implementation of unfair policies has given birth to many complexities and it has
been observed that these institutions have, in certain times, use these policies to feather their
own nest. Further, many policies are implemented on the favour of investors who has direct
link to the international institutions. It has been observed that the international institutions are
offered different kinds of loans and they give priority to them who repay the loans. However,
in case of developing countries like Ghana, borrowing loans from the institutions are quite
troublesome.
The assistance of the international organisations has strengthened the economic
condition of Ghana. The economical improvement can be categorised as follows:
 If the health condition of the country is good, it will give productive populations to
the nation.
 Further, due to the obvious facts of poverty, Ghana is suffering from malnutrition
and different types of infections. A good health service will cure this situation and

3SOCIOLOGY OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY
make a positive impact on the productivity of the country (McKay, Pirttilä & Tarp,
2015).
 It has been observed that many youths are died because of malnutrition. A healthy
nation will help to improve the Gross Domestic Product by which the economic
condition of the country can be shunned.
 The working capability will be increased by the health care development and this will
bring economic stability in the country.
However, the current government of Ghana has extended their helping hand
towards these institutions and establish their leadership skill. The international help has not
only widened the concept of democracy but improvise the other sectors like health. The
Ghana government is investing more money in the health care sector (Clemens & Kremer,
2016). The annual contribution from both the international organisations has helped to
improve the standard of health care in Ghana and reduce the mortality rate of this country.

4SOCIOLOGY OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY
Reference:
Amanor, K. S., & Ubink, J. M. (2016). Contesting Land and Custom in Ghana. State, Chief
and the Citizen. Leiden University Press.
Ansah, E. K., Narh-Bana, S., Affran-Bonful, H., Bart-Plange, C., Cundill, B., Gyapong, M.,
& Whitty, C. J. (2015). The impact of providing rapid diagnostic malaria tests on
fever management in the private retail sector in Ghana: a cluster randomized
trial. bmj, 350, h1019.
Clemens, M. A., & Kremer, M. (2016). The new role for the world bank. Journal of
Economic Perspectives, 30(1), 53-76.
Fenenga, C. J., Nketiah-Amponsah, E., Ogink, A., Arhinful, D. K., Poortinga, W., & Hutter,
I. (2015). Social capital and active membership in the Ghana National Health
Insurance Scheme-a mixed method study. International journal for equity in
health, 14(1), 118.
McKay, A., Pirttilä, J., & Tarp, F. (2015). Ghana: Poverty reduction over thirty years (No.
2015/052). WIDER Working Paper.