Ghana: Invertir a Ghana
According to UNCTAD's World Investment Report 2021, Ghana has recorded a 52% drop in FDI in 2020, leaving inflows at USD 1.9 billion, from USD 3.9 billion in 2019, following the health and economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. The FDI stock reached USD 42 million in 2020. Strict lockdown measures in the first half of the year contributed to the drop in investment, with the country among the first on the continent to impose restrictions on mobility. According to UNCTAD’ Investment Trends Monitor, global FDI flows rebounded strongly in 2021, but FDI flows to African countries (excluding South Africa) rose only moderately. The top investing economies in 2020 were Australia, China, the Netherlands, South Africa and the UK. Almost half of FDI into Ghana was in manufacturing, while the services and mining sectors accounted for 25 and 16% of foreign investment respectively. The country hosts annual summits (Ghana Investment Summit) to position itself as a hub in West Africa for foreign investors.
The authorities in Ghana have been pursuing efforts to simplify the complex and lengthy procedures while also offering tax incentives. Additionally, Ghana is one of the most democratic countries in Africa, and it counts a large and inexpensive labour force, a substantial agricultural base, numerous natural resources and stable institutions. It is also one of the most open economies to foreign equity ownership in the region. However, the burdensome bureaucracy, corruption, weak productivity, costly and difficulty to obtain financing services, under-developed transport infrastructure, ambiguous property laws, frequent power and water cuts and an unskilled labour force are the main factors that hinder FDI. In the World Bank's 2020 Doing Business Report, Ghana ranked 118th worldwide for the ease of doing business, losing four positions compared to the previous year. Major ongoing reforms include dematerialising tax, legal and business registration processes. Also, issuing construction permits, operating permits and identification numbers will be automated and digitalised. In addition to these reforms, a scheme to boost the performances of the power sector was initiated. In January 2022, Ghana was removed from the EU grey list of high-risk money laundering countries.
Foreign Direct Investment | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
FDI Inward Flow (million USD) | 2,827 | 1,876 | 2,614 |
FDI Stock (million USD) | 38,953 | 40,829 | 41,021 |
Number of Greenfield Investments* | 45 | 34 | 29 |
Value of Greenfield Investments (million USD) | 4,848 | 1,342 | 1,302 |
Source: UNCTAD, Latest available data
Note: * Greenfield Investments are a form of Foreign Direct Investment where a parent company starts a new venture in a foreign country by constructing new operational facilities from the ground up.
Country Comparison For the Protection of Investors | Ghana | Sub-Saharan Africa | United States | Germany |
Index of Transaction Transparency* | 7.0 | 5.5 | 7.0 | 5.0 |
Index of Manager’s Responsibility** | 5.0 | 3.5 | 9.0 | 5.0 |
Index of Shareholders’ Power*** | 7.0 | 5.5 | 9.0 | 5.0 |
Source: Doing Business, Latest available data
Note: *The Greater the Index, the More Transparent the Conditions of Transactions. **The Greater the Index, the More the Manager is Personally Responsible. *** The Greater the Index, the Easier it Will Be For Shareholders to Take Legal Action.
Strong points of investing in Ghana include:
Challenges for investors in Ghana include:
A reduced corporate tax rate of 8% is available for companies engaged in “non-traditional exports,” and a 20% rate applies to financial institutions on income from loans granted to farming enterprises and leasing companies.
Free Trade Zone (FTZ) companies have a 10-year exemption period after which they pay corporate tax at 15% on export sales.
A rebate is granted to manufacturing companies located outside Accra and Tema. In regional capitals (other than Accra and Tema), the rebate is 75% of the standard corporate tax rate of 25%, and in all other places, it is 50% of the standard tax rate.
Tax holidays are granted, from the beginning of the operations, in the following cases:
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Actualitzacions: March 2023