Communication and Culture in Ghana: Technology's Influence and Progress in a New Digital Age

Author: Elaine Ayensu
Graduation Year: 2003
Advisor: Diana Owen
Reader: Stephen Farnsworth
Date: 01 May 2003
Link to Thesis: ElaineAyensu.pdf

There has been rapid technological development in Ghana over the past five years. Increasingly Ghanaians are integrating various forms of technology, such as radio, cellular phones, television, newspapers and the Internet into their daily lives. This thesis argues that such boom in technological growth in Ghana is a result of Ghana?s technological predisposition to wireless communication. Ghana?s inherent traditional, cultural and historical forms of indigenous communication skills have allowed Ghanaians to accept wireless technology as a natural phenomenon.

Using a multi-method approach of observation, trend analyses and case studies, this thesis breaks its argument into five main parts: 1) understanding technological predisposition; 2) the Akan political system as a theoretical framework; 3) status of technological advancement and the increasing growth rates of Ghana?s telecommunication indicators; 4) forms of communication which look at drums as the first wireless technology, the parallels between oral and wireless under one hand and written and wired on the other hand, and a case study of radio soap operas in Burundi; 5) implications of the trends and policy recommendations, which suggests the creation of a new degree curriculum, the integration of Ghanaian languages in schools and the reduction of continuous Brain Drain to mostly developed countries.

The evidence presented in this thesis supports the main hypothesis that Ghana?s historical predisposition to wireless communication has facilitated the recent acceptance and diffusion of new wireless technologies into the cultural fabric of the country. Furthermore, the lack of access to technology and other infrastructure has contributed to Ghana?s lag behind the new technological development, rather than the society?s inability to understand and adapt to new technologies. As such there should be a pragmatic balance between indigenous forms of communication, especially in the rural areas, and at the same time promote advancing technologies in order to preserve Ghana?s culture to foster its technological growth.