Paper short abstract:

Combining Soviet and Ghanaian sources, this paper aims to show how the Soviet Union promoted a vision of economic development that anticipated the emergence of import-substitution industrialisation by nearly a decade.

Paper long abstract:

Between 1957 and 1964 the Soviet Union tried to export to Ghana a model of economic and social development. Moscow's policy was driven by the conviction that socialism was a superior economic system, and could be replicated successfully in West Africa.The USSR recommended that the Ghanaian government adopt a development strategy based on closed markets, state investment, and public ownership of the means of production. However, Soviet confidence in the project was undermined by the unreliability of local leaders and by rising costs. Combining Soviet and Ghanaian sources, this paper aims to show how the Soviet Union promoted a vision of economic development that anticipated the emergence of import-substitution industrialisation by nearly a decade.