Does export destination matter for the economic growth of Ghana?

Abstract

This study investigates whether export destination matters for economic growth. This important question is answered by utilising annual time series data spanning the period 1996–2018 on Ghana. Two main export destinations for Ghana – sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Europe and Central Asia (ECA) regions are selected for the analysis. The results from the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model show that, export destinations really matter for economic growth. Specifically, exports to the SSA region is not growth enhancing in the long-run, but exports to the ECA region is growth enhancing in both the short- and long-run. Based on the findings, we provide policy suggestions, which seek to improve economic growth through exports for consideration.