A Fragile Success in Africa

What an interesting article!
1The New York Times > Opinion > A Fragile Success in Africa: "But Ghana is a good kid in a really bad neighborhood"

First the good news:
"Ghanaians like to brag that they have passed the point of no return in making their humid patch of West Africa a functioning democracy with all the perks that brings: a free and vibrant press, steady though slow economic growth, tourism. There is even a shopping mall with a multiplex cinema going up in Accra. With such obvious payoffs for adopting good governance, many Ghanaians say it is inconceivable that the country will turn back to the failed-state practices that have taken so many other African countries down the drain. "If anyone tried anything like a coup here, this place would immediately become ungovernable," says Kweku Sakyi Addo, the host of one of Ghana's innumerable political talk shows. "We've seen what happens in other African countries. There is no way people will put up with that here.""

Then the bad news:

"But for all the talk of what a model African country Ghana is, it is still, literally, dirt poor, a fact of life that demonstrates just how removed Africa is from the proverbial rising tide of the global economy that is supposed to be lifting all boats. Ghana has a per capita income of $421 a year; most people survive here on $300 to $400."

"Almost half of Ghana's national budget comes from foreign aid"

"Ghana shows what a tough road this is going to be. But it also shows that bringing Africa back is eminently doable."