Ghana drops its general foreign-capital minimum, but traders still need US$500,000 in cash
Ghana's new investment law ends the US$500,000 minimum for wholly foreign-owned firms and US$200,000 for joint ventures. Traders still need US$500,000 in cash, and foreign-owned firms must now renew GIPA registration every year.
By the Citi Sighs Intelligence Desk — Toronto, October 31, 2026
TORONTO — Ghana no longer sets a general minimum foreign capital for wholly foreign-owned companies or joint ventures. President John Mahama assented on July 15, 2026 to the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority Act, 2026 (Act 1173), which removes the old US$500,000 floor for foreign-owned firms but keeps one for traders: US$500,000 in cash.
For a Canadian software, consulting or services founder, that removes the biggest fixed cost of entering Ghana under its investment law. The new Act, though, adds annual registration, heavier penalties and a direct link between invested capital and how many foreign staff a firm may bring in.
What changed
Under the old Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act, 2013 (Act 865), a foreign investor needed US$200,000 for a joint venture with a Ghanaian partner, US$500,000 for a wholly foreign-owned company and US$1 million for a trading business. The 2026 Act removes the first two. Vera Adjei, a principal investment promotion officer at the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA), told an ICC Ghana CEO breakfast in August that both requirements have been scrapped.
Trading is the exception. A non-citizen running a trading enterprise must invest at least US$500,000 in cash as equity, and at least 75% of its staff must be skilled Ghanaians, KPMG notes. GIPA chief executive Simon Madjie said imported goods no longer count towards that amount. Portfolio investments are exempt.
The Act turns the former Ghana Investment Promotion Centre into an Authority with a one-stop shop and an investor grievance mechanism, and gives it power to impose administrative penalties.
What it means in practice
- Register before you operate. GIPA registration is still required, and the Authority registers an enterprise only once any relevant capital minimum is met, according to the Act's text.
- Renew every year. Foreign-owned enterprises must now renew annually, instead of every two years. Missing a renewal carries 7,000 penalty units plus 200 to 500 units a month. At the GH¢12 per unit used in Ghanaian coverage, the base penalty is GH¢84,000.
- Capital still buys work permits. Expatriate quotas scale with invested capital: two foreign staff for US$50,000 to US$500,000, rising in steps to 12 above US$10 million, up from an old cap of four. Clyde & Co notes the quotas come with a condition that at least 90% of the workforce be skilled Ghanaians. Quotas last five years and are renewable.
- Register technology transfer agreements. Unregistered agreements are unenforceable, and banks may not pay fees under them, Afriwise notes. Sending fees under an unregistered agreement carries 10,000 to 20,000 penalty units.
- Existing firms carry over. Enterprises registered under the old law are treated as registered under the new one, keep the benefits they already had, and keep current quotas until they expire.
The local view
The trading line is where West African business is most engaged. In August, GIPA and the Ghana Union of Traders' Associations (GUTA) agreed on a joint task force, a reporting channel and a dedicated enforcement unit for activities reserved for Ghanaians. Madjie said informal retail stays reserved for Ghanaians however much a foreign investor brings, while formal retail such as malls and supermarkets remains open. GUTA chief executive Clement Boateng said the association backs lawful foreign investment. The same agreement has the trade minister briefing diplomatic missions on Ghana's ECOWAS obligations.
Traders from elsewhere in the region see it differently. In 2019 the Nigeria Union of Traders Association, Ghana, asked for the retail provisions of the old law to be harmonised or scrapped, arguing its members are ECOWAS citizens.
The reserved list shrank from eight activities to six. A non-citizen business found in one faces 5,000 to 10,000 penalty units plus 500 to 1,000 units a month.
How the corridor compares
Nigeria has taken a different approach. Its interior ministry's 2022 expatriate quota handbook set ₦100 million in paid-up capital for companies with foreign shareholders; the Corporate Affairs Commission announced and then reversed enforcing it at incorporation in December 2023.
In Canada, a non-Canadian starting an unrelated new business generally files a notification under the Investment Canada Act, before starting or within 30 days after.
What to watch next
GIPA has said implementation guidance will come through its official channels. Criteria for the new citizenship-by-investment route are to be set by the Ministry of the Interior in consultation with GIPA. The GUTA task force's enforcement will show how broadly "trading" is read in practice.
The case for and against
The case for: a US$500,000 barrier that kept small service firms out is gone. Joint ventures with Ghanaian partners no longer need foreign capital, which in our view strengthens the hand of local co-founders.
The case against: annual renewal, a national investment registry and five-figure penalty-unit fines raise ongoing compliance costs. Lean firms that invest little capital qualify for few or no expatriate slots. Companies selling physical goods alongside services could find themselves treated as traders. And West African traders who see themselves as ECOWAS citizens face tighter enforcement.
What we could not verify
We did not open the gazetted Act; section-level details come from TaxLawGH's reproduction of the text and from KPMG, Afriwise and Clyde & Co. TaxLawGH lists the Act as gazetted and in force from July 15, 2026; GIPA's release gives no separate date. We could not confirm whether sector regulators still set their own capital floors, whether firms investing under US$50,000 get any expatriate quota, whether implementing regulations or new fees have been published, or the penalty-unit value from an official text. TaxLawGH flags a cross-reference error in the technology-transfer penalty section. We could not confirm the current status of Nigeria's ₦100 million requirement, or a current cedi–dollar rate for converting the US$ figures. One Ghana News Agency report cites the law as Act 1117; GIPA's own release says Act 1173.
Disclosure: Citi Sighs has no commercial relationship with any company or institution named in this article. This article is general information, not tax, legal or investment advice.