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English serves in this role de facto though there is no mention of official language in the constitution. (Aménagement linguistique)
No indigenous languages have any legal status. Akan languages (Twi Ashanti, Fanti, Twi Akuapem, etc.) are spoken by about half the population as maternal languages and serve a vehicular role. Ewe is spoken by a significant population in the southeast.
Hausa is used as a trade language in northern Ghana.
Over 70 language variants are spoken. Ethnologue has an extensive list at http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GH and a map at http://www.ethnologue.com/show_map.asp?name=GH&seq=10
Akan (Twi, Fante), Gbe (Ewe), Dagaare, Anyi/Baule, Hausa
There is also a page on Ga in the More Languages section.
The site L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde has a page on Ghana at http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/ghana.htm
Five institutions "involved in or responsible for African Language research" in Ghana (UNESCO 1985). Updated information is needed:
Early in its history the Ghanaian government had 9 Ghanaian languages taught in schools: Akuapem-Twi, Asante-Twi, Dagbani, Dangbe, Ewe, Fante, Ga, Kasem, and Nizima. (Aménagement linguistique)
In recent years Ghana has pursued a monolinguistic English-only education policy [need source]
UNDP (2006) gives a literacy figure (without reference to which language[s]) of: 57.9%
National languages are written in the Latin alphabet with some additional modified letters (extended characters) and diacritics. A chart showing the extended Latin characters and diacritics used in some Ghanaian languages is available at: http://www.bisharat.net/A12N/GHANA-table.htm
Two periodicals are published in Akan: Nkwantabisa and Akwansosem ... (Webbook) [information in 2005 has it that these are no longer published]
UNESCO (1985) reported the following periodicals (name, frequency of publication, circulation, language). This listing included the note: "Newsprint difficulties cause irregularity in publishing." Updated information is needed, though it may be that none are still published:
"Ghana is one of few countries in Africa where landlines have experienced sustained growth." (Towards an African e-Index)
"Most people in rural areas rely on communications centres for access to telecoms services, but the popularisation of mobile telephone kiosks in the country may reduce this." (Towards an African e-Index)
"In comparing household telephones to other ICTs, it is evident that radio, and to some extent television, are the most popular ICT facilities in the country. ... By the end of 2004, the NCA had allocated frequency to 140 companies to operate FM radio stations in the country, of which 84 had commenced business." (Towards an African e-Index)
"While Internet penetration in Ghana seems very low according to ITU Basic ICT Statistics (2005), the number of Internet users per 10,000 inhabitants increased to 172 in 2004, which is higher than the African average of 123.21. By way of comparison, in 2003 South Africa had more than 3.1 million Internet users and Egypt 1.9 million users, while Ghana had 170,000 (ITU 2003). Most users in Ghana have access through shared Internet connections – offices, cyber cafés, friends, and to a lesser extent, homes (Ahiabenu II 2003)." (Towards an African e-Index)
"In response to global policy changes in the ICT industry, Ghana was among the first African countries to reform its ICT sector and establish the necessary legal and regulatory frameworks to support the growth of the sector. Since 1990, the government of Ghana has liberalised the telecommunications sector with the aim of enabling the private sector to participate in the provision of services to increase access and coverage, introduce value-added services and boost consumer access to the state-of-theart technology (Frempong and Atubra 2001)." (Towards an African e-Index)
The APC page, "ICT Policy in Ghana" has some information and links: http://rights.apc.org/africa/test.shtml?apc=s21827e_1
IICD has a page on Ghana at http://www.iicd.org/countries/ghana/ . Highlights of program there include:
(See also specific language pages.)
(See also specific language pages.)
APC, "ICT Policy in Ghana," Africa ICT Policy Monitor, http://rights.apc.org/africa/test.shtml?apc=s21827e_1
Dwyer, David. 1997. Webbook of African Languages, http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/hiermenu.html (page on "Akan," http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/Akan-root.html
Frempang, Godfred, et al. 2005. "Ghana." In Gillwald, Alison (ed.), Towards an African e-Index: Household and individual ICT Access and Usage Across 10 African Countries. (Research ICT Africa!, http://www.researchictafrica.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=504 )
Ghanaweb. 2005. "Minister Inaugurates Information Centres in UER." Thursday, 2 June 2005 http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=82822
______. 2005. "Ghana now has 2,655,000 mobile subscribers." Tuesday, 6 December 2005 http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=95591
International Telecommunications Union (ITU). 2006. World Information Society Report 2006. Geneva: ITU. http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/publications/worldinformationsociety/2006/wisr-web.pdf
Internet World Stats: Africa. 2006. http://internetworldstats.com/africa.htm
Leclerc, Jacques. L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde, "Ghana," http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/afrique/ghana.htm
SIL International, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, "Languages of Ghana," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GH
UNDP. 2006. ''Beyond scarcity: Power, poverty and the global water crisis. Human Development Report 2006.'' New York: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). [Human development index Adult literacy rate (% ages 15 and older) (HDI) http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/statistics/indicators/3.html ]
UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Africa. 1985. African Community Languages and Their Use in Literacy and Education: A Regional Survey. Dakar: UNESCO.
Wikipedia, "Languages of Ghana," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Ghana
