The most widely traveled tour operator, African Network Travel and Tours reveals the history of Ghana, from the Gold Coast era.

Present-day Ghana has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC, although little evidence remains from the earliest societies.
Migration waves from the north and east resulted in its present ethnographic composition. A number of kingdoms arose by the 13th century, influenced by the Sahelian trading empires. Ghana was famous for her gold and especially the Akan kingdoms in the central and south of present-day Ghana, developed by this trade.

After the fall of these kingdoms, trade, religion, culture and other influences reaching the inhabitants of the north were either completely interrupted or became reduced. This was partly caused by Portugal, the first European country that started trade within Ghana in the 15th century. Strong social intercourse developed between the local people and the Europeans. The Portuguese obtained so much gold that they call it 'Mina de Ouro': the goldmine. Later the British named it 'Gold Coast', to refer to their Colony. Portugal protected the land very strongly, in order to provide competition. At first they concentrated on the natural products such as gold, pepper and ivory.

In the late 16th century the main trade changed rapidly to slaves, due to the establishment of plantations in America. The Dutch were the first to capture the Elmina Castle from the Portuguese in 1637. By obtaining the gold, the Dutch could pay for their war against Spain and they brought slaves from Ghana to the Dutch owned plantations in Brazil and Surinam. The slave trade attracted also the British, Danes, French, Swedes and Germans, all of whom built forts and castles. By the middle of the 18th century, a strong competition for trade was raging all over the West Coast.

The Akan kingdoms grew rich from delivering slaves to the collection points in forts at the coast, like Cape Coast Castle and Elmina Castle, built by the Europeans. Some of the 40 forts and castles along the coast are still in use. The government is based in a Danish fort in Accra. The Elmina and Cape Coast Castles are museums and the Dutch fort Crevecoeur in Accra, is still in use as prison.

In the early 19th century slave trade was outlawed. The British got more influence in Ghana after that, which resulted in the colonial period starting in 1844. Under the British, Ghana became the world's leading producer of cocoa. By World War 1, Ghana was the most prosperous colony in Africa, due to cocoa, gold and timber. It had the best schools and civil services in West Africa.

In the late 1920s, some political parties wanted to regain independence. In 1949 Nkrumah came with the slogan 'Self Government Now', which quickly became the voice of the masses. In 1957, the Colonial period came to an end and Ghana became the first independent country in sub-Saharan Africa. Nkrumah then became the first president of independent Ghana. He wanted to change Ghana from an agricultural nation into an industrialised country. The result was the state borrowing heavily in order to subsidise big projects, like the Akosombo Dam. Although the Akosombo Dam was a grandiose project, most of the projects were wasteful and Ghana could not afford such projects.

In 1966 the army of Ghana staged a coup, and Kwame Nkrumah was exiled to Guinea. Between 1966 and 1981, Ghana suffered 6 military governments. The result of this all was a huge inflation rate and products becoming scarce.

At the end of 1981 Rawlings became president and things started to change. The economy started to grow by 5% on average and inflation dropped from 122% in 1983 to 29% in 1997.

Not everything has been a success; many companies in the industrial areas of Accra could not compete with international companies, and therefore had to stop production. Besides, it became increasingly difficult for the poor to access education and health services which were previously free.

In the year 2000, there was a new election and Mr. J.A. Kuffour was democratically elected the President of the Republic of Ghana. Handing over was very peaceful and now Ghana is on its way to recovery.

During these days the most important industries of Ghana are cocoa, gold, timber and tourism industries. Ghana is the second largest cocoa producer in the world, after Côte d'Ivoire, and the eleventh largest gold producer.

Timber is an important export product as well although it declines, due to the fast reduction of rainforest. At this moment tourism is the fastest growing industry in Ghana. Production of palm oil and cotton are also important for the country, but are not important export products.

2004 saw the most transparent, free, fair, smooth and peaceful elections of Ghana. Mr. J.A. Kuffour is once again democratically elected as the President of the 4th Republic of Ghana. Our Coat of Arms, "Freedom and Justice" has meaning in Ghana today.

The peace and sanity in Ghana has given way for Investors to be interested in Ghana again. Life has meaning for the poor as they now have access to free education and better health services. The future of Ghana looks bright, as Ghanaians are determined to build a better Ghana for all.