Global Studies Africa Textbook: An Open Global Historical Studies Textbook Main Menu East African Politics, Modern History, and International Relations Authors: Anna Bradley, Georgia Coffman, Madyson Duby, Danny Kovalak Art and Culture in East Africa Modern History of Western Africa Introduction for the Modern History of Western Africa chapter Arts and Culture in Western Africa Arts and Culture in Western Africa Chapter Introduction Medicine and Health in West Africa West African Natural Resources A brief summary of West African natural resources Natural Resources in Central Africa Natural Resources in Central Africa Art and Culture of Central Africa Arts and Culture in North Central Africa Economics and Infrastructure in the South African Region Healthcare in Southern Africa Author Credits

Ghana

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The Country of Ghana is located between the Ivory Coast, Togo, Burkina Faso, and the Atlantic Ocean. The country is rich in natural resources that include: gold, timber, industrial diamonds, bauxite, manganese, fish, rubber, hydropower, petroleum, silver, salt, limestone, and oil. The country has a variety of different organizations set up to help protect its large variety of natural resources, such as the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resource, the Mines Department the Lands Commission, the Chamber of Mines, the Minerals Commission, and the Geological Survey Department The Environmental Protection Agency. Ghana’s most important resource is gold. It is the largest gold producer in Africa, passing south Africa in 2018, with 4.8 million ounces of gold. Gold is so valuable because of its diverse uses, such as jewelry, electronics, dentistry, and currency. The most common form that gold takes is jewelry because 70% of gold produced in the world goes towards the creation of jewelry, according to Zindzy Gracia of yen.com.gh. Another benefit of gold is that its value is safe compared to other volatile resources exploited like oil. Recently Deutsche Bank argues that gold could rise from its current price of $1,500 per ounce to $1,800 in a global recession, according to David White house of The Africa Report. Over the past 50 years, Ghana has experienced a large growth in its oil and natural gas production. From the 1970s to the early 2000s a low amount of oil was able to be extracted from Ghana, it was not until 2010 that Ghana saw a significant increase in oil production. This is due to the opening of the offshore Jubilee field, according to Brittanica. The oil deposits in Ghana are believed to be the 6th largest in Africa, ranked the 25th largest oil reserve in the world, according to Zindy Gracia.