Ghana

Democracy is well established in Ghana and the country is the second largest economy in West Africa. For many decades now Ghana has been successfully pursuing a good neighbours policy and pushing for more regional integration. Its government is engaged internationally and at home in development activities for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Ghana has been counted as a lower-middle-income country since 2010. A key challenge facing the country is growing social and regional inequality. The northern parts of the country in particular have not shared in the development that has happened in the economically strong coastal region and the cities. The country’s proximity to the instable Sahel region is a major challenge for the northern regions.

The Ghanaian economy is heavily dependent on export earnings from just a few commodities, such as gold, oil and cocoa. The fluctuating world market prices for these commodities have a considerable impact on the country’s economic situation. The global impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine have had a negative effect on Ghana’s economy. As a result, the country is currently in a debt crisis and is fighting high inflation. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is supporting Ghana with one of its programmes. Under this programme and in cooperation with public and private creditors, the Ghanaian government is working to restore debt sustainability and fight the structural root causes of the crisis.

News

Press release 21 February 2023

Germany is taking a new direction in its development cooperation in the field of migration – kick off in GhanaInternal link
Press release 20 February 2023

Working towards fair supply chains and decent work worldwide: Development Minister Schulze and Labour Minister Heil are travelling to Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire togetherInternal link
Press release 30 November 2022

Germany supports Ghana’s sustainable growth effortsInternal link

German development cooperation with Ghana

Germany is one of Ghana’s most important development partners. Development cooperation is aimed at helping Ghana implement a process to achieve an economic transformation towards broad-based sustainable and diversified growth that offers good prospects for the country’s young people and particularly women.

All efforts are based on Ghanaian development strategies and their respective goals. Specifically, cooperation involves efforts to expand renewable energies in a way that is socially just, promote vocational education and training and employment, increase government revenue and improve government transparency and accountability. Germany is also strengthening the Ghanaian pharma sector and supporting efforts to establish local vaccine production.

At government negotiations in Berlin in November 2023, Germany committed 149.7 million euros in new funding for Ghana, 109 million for Financial and 36.9 million for Technical Cooperation, along with 3.8 million euros for the special initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition”. The next negotiations are planned for 2025.

Ghana and Germany are working together in the context of their development cooperation on the following core areas:

Climate and energy, just transition
Areas of intervention: renewable energy and energy efficiency; sustainable urban development
Sustainable economic development, training and employment
Areas of intervention: private sector and financial sector development; technical and vocational education and training | Initiative areas: digital technology and data; migration as an opportunity
Peaceful and inclusive societies
Area of intervention: good governance

A young African farmer installs a solar panel on the roof of his house on a cashew farm.

Although Ghana has a remarkable level of electrification (86.3 per cent) compared with other countries in the region, high energy costs and frequent power failures constitute a significant development constraint for businesses and private households. In order to increase the country’s energy security and support efforts to achieve a transformation towards broad-based, sustainable and diversified growth, Germany and Ghana are working together in the area of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The Girls Vocational Training Institute in Accra (Ghana) trains girls in electrical engineering.

Germany’s support in this area aims to generate employment and vocational training for young people and in particular for women. Moreover, access to financial services and digital technologies is to be improved in particular for women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). This will make a contribution to fighting poverty and hunger and promoting gender equality.

Employees in the Ministry of Finance in Ghana

Compared with other countries in the region, Ghana’s tax-to-GDP ratio (about 13 per cent) is relatively low. This means that considerable funding for the public budget is being lost. Ghana’s government is engaged in efforts to build the capacity and expertise of national, regional and local administrative institutions. These efforts are being supported through German development cooperation.