MIASA Working Papers

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Start date: 2020Subject: search.filters.subject.Ghana

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    ‘The cake is in Accra’: a case study on internal migration in Ghana
    (Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), 2022-04) Turolla, Maya; Hoffmann, Lisa
    What are the motivations for internal migration and what role does the social network of migrants play in the process of moving to a different place? In this paper, we focus on internal migration to Accra, the capital of Ghana. Previous literature has focused on either livelihood or lifestyle approaches to migration but failed to show how these dimensions are intertwined. We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with twenty migrants in different areas of Accra and analysed the interviews using a relational analysis. We find that livelihood and lifestyle dimensions matter in tandem. While the main reasons for moving to Accra are related to livelihood strategies, they are reflected and performed in culturally bound lifestyles of city-life. Furthermore, we find that different ties – such as emotional or economic ties – are differently meaningful across members of the migrants’ social network throughout the migration process. Such heterogeneity appears to depend on gender and socioeconomic status.
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    Towards a political economy of renewable energy in Ghana: A review
    (Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), 2022-09) Pedersen, Rasmus H.
    New forms of renewable energy have featured in Ghana’s energy planning since the early 1980s, but their share in the energy mix remains limited. This development mirrors similar trends in many other lower-income African countries. Based on a literature review, this paper explores the political economy of renewable energy in Ghana with a particular focus on the role of development donors, who have been identified as potentially important actors in the promotion and deployment of new renewable energy. The paper suggests that coalitions between Western donors and Ghanaian decision-makers with a shared interest in new renewable energy have emerged more than once, typically as a response to supply crises. However, these coalitions have been short-lived, partly due to the fragmented nature of Ghana’s energy sector governance. Concerns over energy security and fossil-fuel resource endowments decisively influence the priorities of key domestic decision-makers. This became conspicuously clear after the discovery of oil and gas in 2007 when the development of Ghana’s petroleum resources was prioritised at the cost of new renewable energy. Whereas expanding access to cheap modern energy has been a mainstay among key domestic decision-makers, decarbonisation does not appear to have been a major priority. Generally, more empirical research is needed.
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    The Question of Religious Authority: Ga Converts and Non-Indigenes in Muslim Identity Politics in Postcolonial Accra
    (Merian Institute for Advances Studies in Africa (MIASA), 2023) Dumbe, Y.
    This contribution to the working paper focuses on the religious conversion to Islam of some Ga ethnic people, their role in the Islamic revival and their impact on founding Muslim communities in postcolonial Accra. Ga converts have considered themselves as relevant to assuming religious authority positions in Accra, which was already dominated by Muslims of migrant descent. The issues of representation and integration have been a challenge for Muslims of diverse backgrounds in the Islamic sphere in Accra. The study demonstrates that while the Ga converts have highlighted their unique background in secular education as well as being the indigenes of Accra, the Muslims of migrant origin have questioned the place of converts in religious proselytization.
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    Religious Diversity through the Life Trajectories of Northern Migrants in Madina, Accra
    (Merian Institute for Advances Studies in Africa (MIASA), 2023) Zaami, M.
    In this paper, I explore the interrelatedness of individual migration and religious conversion stories, both temporal and permanent. Through two contrastive case studies, I analyze the role of migration in religious diversity among Christians, Muslims, and practitioners of African Religious Traditions in Accra’s urban settings. I illustrate how the life trajectories of Aisha and Solomon provide some critical and insightful perspectives on how migration and urban settings intersect in shaping individual social actors’ lived religious experiences in a multi-religious field and help them navigate between different familial and societal demands, as well as how individuals’ upbringings can impact religious diversity.