Accra, Oct. 4, GNA – The YAFO Institute has marked the 250th anniversary of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, examining how his ideas on productivity, enterprise and institutions could inform Africa’s pursuit of prosperity.
The commemoration, held on the theme “Freedom, Enterprise and the Future of Prosperity” as part of Liberty Sphere 2026, also renewed the Institute’s call for support for a project to make Smith’s ideas accessible in Asante Twi.
A communique issued by the Institute said the event, led by Ebenezer Tackie Oblie, Executive Director of the Institute for New Policy Thinking, and Nathaniel Dwamena, President of YAFO Institute, sought to place Smith’s economic thought within its wider intellectual context.
It said the discussion moved beyond the popular characterisation of Smith as a champion of self-interest and “greed is good”, stressing his contributions to moral philosophy, justice, political economy and institutional development.
Smith, a leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, published The Theory of Moral Sentiments in 1759, 17 years before The Wealth of Nations.
The communique said that broader intellectual background was important to understanding Smith’s views on markets, noting that his work recognised the importance of moral conduct and the institutions governing interactions among individuals.
It also pointed out that the often-cited concept of the “invisible hand” appeared only once in The Wealth of Nations, challenging interpretations that portray the concept as a comprehensive argument for unrestricted markets.
“Questions of justice, security, trust, property and the enforcement of contracts matter to whether people can participate productively in economic exchange,” the communique said.
It identified Smith’s division of labour as another important lesson for contemporary Africa.
Smith used the example of a pin factory to demonstrate how dividing production into specialised tasks could significantly increase output. The principle, the Institute said, remained relevant to modern economies where individuals and firms combine specialised skills and knowledge through increasingly complex networks.
For Ghana and other African economies, the communique said the challenge was to move beyond the production and export of commodities towards processing, manufacturing, specialised services, technology and other higher-value activities.
The discussion also questioned the assumption that natural resources alone constituted national wealth.
Smith’s analysis, the communique said, shifted attention from the accumulation of gold and silver towards the “productive powers of labour”, specialisation, exchange and capital.
“Possessing natural resources does not automatically translate into widespread prosperity,” it said, stressing the need for countries to create conditions that enabled people and firms to “specialise, invest, innovate, trade and participate in increasingly productive economic activities.”
The Institute also cautioned against interpreting Smith as an advocate of government having no role in economic life.
It said Smith identified national defence, administration of justice and the provision of certain public works and institutions as responsibilities of government, particularly where such facilities could benefit society but might not be sufficiently profitable for private individuals to provide.
The communique therefore framed the issue not simply as a choice between government and markets, but as a question of “which institutions perform which functions, how those institutions are governed, and whether they create or obstruct the conditions for productive activity.”
It said the issue had direct relevance to Ghana’s courts, infrastructure, education, property rights, contract enforcement and regulatory environment.
The anniversary commemoration also highlighted the Liberty Anansesem Project, through which YAFO Institute is seeking to translate Eamonn Butler’s The Wealth of Nations: A Graphic Novel into Asante Twi for individuals, schools and community libraries.
The Institute said the project had secured written permission and a copyright waiver from the rights holder and was intended to make foundational ideas about markets, enterprise and prosperity available to a wider African-language audience.
The communique described the initiative as an “education and accessibility project”, rather than simply a translation exercise.
It said the objective was “to make important ideas more accessible, not simply to commemorate them.”
The Institute said Smith’s 250-year-old work did not provide a ready-made formula for addressing Africa’s contemporary development challenges, but offered useful questions around productivity, specialisation, enterprise, institutions, justice, exchange and the role of government.
It said the task for Ghana and Africa was to engage those ideas within contemporary African realities and ensure they were accessible to the people who would shape the continent’s future.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Benjamin Adamafio Commey
Email: [email protected]