Ghana has remained uncompetitive within the West African sub-region due to high minimum capital requirements imposed on foreign investors, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre has asserted.
According to the Centre, the long-standing policy, which mandates between $200,000 and $1 million in minimum equity depending on the type of business, has made Ghana an outlier and discouraged potential investors compared to other markets in the region.
Speaking during the Deloitte–UKGCC Investment Readiness Webinar, Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at GIPC, George Asafo-Agyei, indicated that the current framework is being reviewed to align with government’s broader vision of making Ghana a preferred investment hub.
“For the new GIPC bill, I must say that it’s been on the drawing board since 2017. It was almost passed in 2024, if not for the last session of Parliament where they couldn’t really do business,” he said.
He stressed that the blanket capital requirement is a key factor undermining Ghana’s competitiveness in the sub-region.
“We are trying to take away the minimum equity requirements for most sectors… It’s not making us competitive. You look at even the West African sub-region, we are the only country that has a blanket minimum equity requirement,” he stated.
But he was quick to clarify that the proposed changes will not fully liberalise all areas, with the trading sector expected to retain strict entry requirements to protect local participation: “I say all the sectors probably apart from trading”.
Dr. Asafo-Agyei further noted that the requirement creates duplication, as sector regulators already enforce their own capital thresholds.
“You have to meet the GIPC one, then go and meet your sector regulator… so there’s no need for the GIPC to also have that blanket one,” he added.
The Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA) Bill 2025 is set to replace the current GIPC Act, 2013 (Act 865) to modernize investment laws.
Key changes include eliminating minimum capital requirements for most foreign investors to boost competitiveness, and establishing the GIPA as the primary body to regulate all sector investments
