National investment registry launched, investor rules liberalised, and 2025 FDI figures expected in August
By Gifty Boateng
President John Dramani Mahama has assented to legislation upgrading the Ghana Investment Promotion Council to the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA), a move that eliminates minimum capital requirements for most sectors and establishes a national investment registry.
The elevation, confirmed by CEO Simon Madjie at the close of a five-day staff training workshop in Accra partnered by German Development Cooperation, marks the first major overhaul of Ghana’s investment law in years.
The new act abolishes the minimum capital requirement that has long been a barrier for smaller investors except in the trading sector, where a cash threshold of $500,000 now applies, replacing the previous goods-based requirement. “For every other sector, it’s been liberalised and it’s open,” Madjie said, though he noted that local content rules remain in place.
The act also empowers the Authority to create a national investment registry and encourages Ghanaian businesses to expand regionally. Madjie said the objective is to “create some of the global businesses that have stood the test of time”, with implementing regulations in the pipeline.
On citizenship-based investment, the CEO said the Authority is working with the Minister of Interior to develop modalities.
The German-backed workshop brought together 50 staff from across GIPA’s operational and technical divisions, including investment promotion, investor services, research, monitoring, aftercare and marketing. The programme, implemented under the Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition” and commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), focused on international best practices in investment promotion.
Simon Hochstein, Head of Component for Invest for Jobs at GIZ Ghana, said strengthening investment promotion professionals was “essential to building a competitive and sustainable investment ecosystem.”
Madjie confirmed that GIPA, together with the Free Zones Authority, Bank of Ghana and Petroleum Commission, will release Foreign Direct Investment data for 2025 in August. “Since the stability beginning last year, there have been investments into the country,” he said, attributing the positive trajectory largely to the stabilising economy and President Mahama’s personal promotion of Ghana abroad.
The workshop aligns with Ghana’s broader strategy to leverage its position as host of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, enhancing the Authority’s capacity to position the country as a gateway for regional and global investors. The elevation to Authority status, Madjie said, “is just to reflect the true nature of the work that we’ve been doing for all these years.”