© 2019 Joseph Adu. This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 3.0 license. American Journal of Economics and Business Administration Original Research Paper Role of Energy and Exports in Economic Growth in Ghana Joseph Adu Department of Banking and Finance, University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana Article history Received: 24-10-2018 Revised: 01-12-2018 Accepted: 01-02-2019 Email: kwakuadu84@yahoo.com joseph.adu@upsa.edu.gh Abstract: For many years, the quest for sustained economic growth has remained a paramount agenda for developing and emerging economies. However for many of these economies, this goal remains elusive as the myriad of reforms implemented have often failed to yield desired results. The literature is replete with many studies aimed at identifying the sources of growth. Yet the role of energy access and utilization has received little attention, likewise the role of exports. To fill this void and offer direction to policy in emerging economies, this study attempts to investigate the impact of energy use and exports in fostering economic growth and development using Ghanaian data. Findings from this paper reveal that energy consumption and exports are key drivers of economic growth in Ghana. Hence, development policy in the country and beyond must be designed to give careful consideration towards integrating energy policy and export-promotion in order to harness the growth potentials of other sectors of the economy. Keywords: Energy, Export, Economic Growth, Ghana Introduction The quest for economic growth has been pursued rigorously by economies around the world since the great depression. In the developing world, myriads of pro-growth policies have been prescribed and implemented but with varying impacts on economic development of host countries. For instance, development experts opine the structural adjustment and economic liberalization policies prescribed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and implemented in Sub-Saharan African economies in the 1980s-90s did not yield the needed impact of spurring growth in the region (Cornia and Helleiner, 1994; Stewart, 1991; UNRISD, 1995; Killick, 1996). In recent times however, development policy in developing and emerging economies have been focused on attracting foreign direct investment and boosting exports. The success of these policies in generating the needed growth depends to a large extent on the provision of infrastructure particularly energy. Energy has evolved over the years to become the bloodline of every economy as it drives every sector and plays a key role in the efficient function of the economy (Mensah, 2014). Thus production, distribution and consumption of goods and services in all sectors of the economy hinge on the supply of reliable energy services (Mensah, 2014). In recognition of the importance of energy services in economic development, energy policy in Ghana has been focused mainly on improving access to energy in both urban and rural communities. Examples of such programs include: The Rural Electrification Programme (REP), National Electrification Scheme (NES), National LPG Promotion Campaign initiated in 1972, 1989 and 1990 respectively. These policies have contributed immensely towards expanding access and utilization of modern energy sources like electricity and LPG among households and industries. Nevertheless, the energy sector is still plagued with challenges as evidenced by the perennial crises in the sector especially with regards to electricity supply. At the same time the export sector has been booming and increasingly being diversified from traditional export commodities like gold, cocoa, timber and diamonds to include non-traditional exports like crafts, agricultural produce (mango, pineapple, etc) and recently oil. In recent past, the Ghanaian economy has been ranked as among the fastest growing economies in the world, with economic growth hitting a record high of 15% in 2011. Now, whereas several attempts have been made in the literature to identify the sources of growth in the Ghanaian economy, little is said of the role that energy access and utilization as well as the export sector play in the economic development of the country. Yet, the literature on the energy-growth nexus emphasize the importance of energy consumption in inducing economic growth especially in developing and emerging economies, with a quest for industrialization. Again, a careful look at the sectoral shares of total exports in Ghana reveal