Networks, distance and trust: Telecommunications and changing trading practices in Ghana

Abstract

Ghana liberalized its telecom sector in 1995. This study looks at the impact of the phenomenal growth in access to telephones on the business practices of traders in cloth, fish and agricultural produce. The article examines how the use of telecommunication technology reduces traders’ time and transportation costs, and explores its impact on initiation and maintenance of relationships of trust in trade networks. It is argued that with a tool for more efficient communication over long distances, transportation and transaction costs are reduced. The quality of the services that traders provide and the profit they make thus improves.