Discusses key economic indicators and trade statistics, which countries are dominant in the market, the U.S. market share, the political situation if relevant, the top reasons why U.S. companies should consider exporting to this country, and other issues that affect trade, e.g., terrorism, currency devaluations, trade agreements.
Last Published: 12/3/2018
With relatively diverse and abundant natural resources, Ghana has roughly twice the per capita output of the poorest countries in West Africa. Even so, Ghana remains heavily dependent on international financial and technical assistance.

Gold, cocoa, petroleum and individual remittances are major sources of foreign exchange. Agriculture’s contribution to economic activity in Ghana has decreased in recent years, now accounting for approximately 20 percent of GDP and employing about 45 percent of the work force, mainly small landholders.

Real GDP growth in the coming years is projected to receive a boost from expanding oil production from the Tweneboa, Enyenra, Ntomme (TEN) and Sankofa offshore oil fields. Hydrocarbon production in the TEN oil field began in August 2016 and it has an estimated reserve of 300 million barrels of oil and gas to be produced and processed over the next 20 years. Oil production in the Sankofa fields began in 2017 and first gas commenced in 2018. Real GDP growth rebounded to 8.5 percent in 2017 from 3.7 in 2016, and is expected to be 6.3 in 2018.

In April 2015, Ghana entered into a three-year International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Credit Facility (ECF) of $918 million with the hope of stabilizing the country’s macroeconomic imbalances.  Ghana has struggled to rein in government spending in recent years, but the macroeconomic situation has improved under Ghana’s three-year IFM ECF which is scheduled to conclude in December 2018. The government has brought the fiscal deficit under control, inflation is at a four-year low (but still a high 9.6 percent as of April 2018), and foreign exchange reserves are at a record high.

 

Ghana’s main import partners include China (18.4 percent of total imports), the United States (8.9 percent), Belgium (5.6 percent), Canada (4.7 percent) and India (4.7 percent).
 
Prepared by our U.S. Embassies abroad. With its network of 108 offices across the United States and in more than 75 countries, the U.S. Commercial Service of the U.S. Department of Commerce utilizes its global presence and international marketing expertise to help U.S. companies sell their products and services worldwide. Locate the U.S. Commercial Service trade specialist in the U.S. nearest you by visiting http://export.gov/usoffices.


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Ghana Trade Development and Promotion