Over at Africa at the LSE:
Nikita Singla discusses the divergent paths of economic development taken by Ghana and Malaysia, two countries that used to share numerous structural similarities.More here
Malaysia and Ghana could have very well been referred to as identical twins just about five decades ago. Today however, even a call for comparison between the two raises eyebrows. Both Malaysia and Ghana gained independence from Britain in 1957 and stood shoulder to shoulder in terms of their economic state, human and natural resources. And today, though to be taken with a pinch of salt, sources say, if Malaysia was your home instead of Ghana, you would use 18 times more electricity, live nine years longer, make five times more money, be 72 per cent less likely to be unemployed, and consume 7.5 times more oil, among many other privileges. The big question is – why this divergence?