It's all too easy to think of Africa as a single place defined by famine, war and instability. The truth is very different, with a diverse array of countries, each with its own story to tell. While our TV screens have been dominated by the drought in Somalia and uncertainty in South Sudan, Ghana has been undergoing a boom.

Twenty years ago, it was in a very different place: heavily indebted, more than half the population living in poverty and only just beginning the process of returning to democracy. Since then, its political stability has laid the foundations for record growth, bringing jobs to the country and its people.

Ghana shows that well-targeted, long-term development, matched by political and economic stability, does work. British support has played a vital role in this, ensuring that Ghana is on target to halve extreme poverty by 2015. Aid must always be a means to an end – the end being a prosperous future when countries no longer need to rely on international help.

Our support and partnership has accelerated Ghana's journey down that path. Our relationship, already focused on wealth-creation, will soon move to an exit strategy as the private sector and economic growth replace the need for international aid.

We're not there yet, with 6.8 million people living on less than a £1 a day and an average life expectancy of just 59. That is why we have given hundreds of thousands of the very poorest children an education and saved the lives of pregnant women and babies by providing midwives.

This has made a significant difference in the short term but, more importantly, laid the foundations for a brighter future. As part of our development programme, now firmly focused on achieving practical results, over the next four years we will get 160,000 children back to school and deliver 4.75 million malaria bednets to save the lives of more than 13,000 under-fives.

We are working to support Ghana's vibrant democracy, to ensure this year's election is a success and we are helping people hold their government to account. We will also help create 144,000 jobs by promoting investment and linking producers to markets. We are working with farmers, private investors, the government and others to make Ghana one of the best places to do business in Africa because private sector growth is the key to raising incomes and permanently lifting people out of poverty.

Our aim is to support and accelerate Ghana's recent progress and ensure ordinary families benefit from this success. A prosperous and stable Ghana creates opportunities for British companies to invest and grow, too. Many companies are already there and more will follow. British firms are creating jobs and generating tax revenues to fund services such as health and education. Unilever has been in Ghana for many years, manufacturing and selling household brands and providing jobs. And a newer company, Blue Skies, is now putting Ghanaian fruit juice on British breakfast tables.

Ghana still faces huge challenges and British support will help it meet them, but its growth and progress deserve our praise. In partnership with Britain, it can stand as a beacon for other countries, showing the way towards a future free from poverty.