Historical Dictionary of Ghana, 3rd ed.

Modern Ghana came into existence on 6 March 1957 when what had been the British colony of Gold Coast became the first sub‐Saharan state to obtain independence. Harold Macmillan's “winds of change” then blew down through most of the continent so that within ten years, apart from a few Spanish and French outposts, the settler anomaly of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and the South African Apartheid regime, only the Portuguese strove to maintain a colonial empire. A comparatively rich country at independence in comparison with much of Africa, Ghana was widely seen as both a trendsetter and a beacon for the...