Ghana is positioning diaspora remittances as a source of structured long term investment following recent economic stabilization efforts, with officials highlighting improved macroeconomic indicators and regulatory reforms during a high level business forum in London.
The Ghana High Commission in the United Kingdom convened a business breakfast meeting on Sunday, January 26, 2026, aimed at mobilizing diaspora capital and strengthening partnerships to support sustainable investment flows into Ghana. The event, held under the theme “Harnessing Diaspora Capital and Partnerships to Drive Investment to Ghana,” brought together Ghanaian diaspora business leaders, investors, financial institutions, fintech operators and policy stakeholders as part of the Mission’s economic diplomacy agenda.
High Commissioner Sabah Zita Benson reaffirmed government commitment to deeper diaspora engagement, encouraging a shift from traditional remittances toward structured investments that support job creation, value addition and long term economic growth. The push comes as Ghana seeks to convert diaspora financial flows, which exceeded six billion dollars in 2024, into stable capital that can fund productive sectors rather than primarily supporting household consumption.
Diana Afriyie Addo, Head of Trade and Investment at the Ghana High Commission in the United Kingdom, highlighted improving macroeconomic fundamentals to support the investment case. She noted that inflation declined to 5.4 percent as of December 2025, marking the 12th consecutive monthly decline and the lowest rate since July 2022. The figure represents an 18.4 percentage point reduction from the 23.8 percent recorded in December 2024, reflecting sustained price stability driven largely by currency strengthening and controlled monetary policy.
Addo outlined ongoing regulatory reforms designed to ease business operations and foreign participation. These include the Business Regulatory Reform Programme, proposed amendments to the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act currently before Parliament, value added tax adjustments and reforms to the Free Zones Act. The proposed GIPC amendments seek to remove minimum foreign capital requirements that currently mandate between 200,000 and 500,000 dollars in stated capital for foreign investors, a threshold widely criticized as deterring smaller scale entrepreneurs and diaspora returnees.
She identified priority investment opportunities across agribusiness, infrastructure development, special economic zones, real estate, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and garments and textiles. These sectors align with government efforts to diversify the economy beyond traditional gold and cocoa exports while creating employment opportunities for a young and growing workforce.
Clara Arthur, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS), outlined the country’s expanding digital payments and fintech ecosystem during the forum. She pointed to progress in interoperability, secured payment systems and regional switch integration that enable faster cross border transactions and reduce remittance costs. The infrastructure development aims to support savings, lending, merchant payments and trade while providing diaspora investors with reliable channels for capital transfers and investment monitoring.
Fuad Abubakar Mohammed, Head of Ghana Cocoa Marketing Company (GCMC) UK Ltd, highlighted opportunities across the cocoa and agribusiness value chains. He emphasized processing, logistics, value addition and export oriented ventures as areas where diaspora expertise and capital could generate competitive returns while supporting domestic industrialization efforts. Ghana remains the world’s second largest cocoa producer, but most beans are exported raw for processing elsewhere, limiting value capture and employment creation.
Participants discussed how digital payment solutions can facilitate diaspora led investment while stressing the importance of strong regulatory and institutional frameworks in building investor confidence. The forum acknowledged persistent challenges including bureaucratic delays, land acquisition difficulties and regulatory uncertainty that continue to affect investment decisions despite recent reform efforts.
The meeting concluded with a networking session focused on practical collaboration pathways for diaspora led investment. Ghana’s economic performance showed momentum in 2025, with gross domestic product expanding 6.1 percent over the first three quarters, driven mainly by services and agriculture sectors. Foreign exchange reserves reached 13.8 billion dollars in December 2025, equivalent to 5.7 months of import cover, up from 4.1 months a year earlier.
The cedi strengthened 40.7 percent against the dollar in 2025 following a 19.2 percent depreciation in 2024, supported by a balance of payments surplus and higher cocoa and gold prices. The Bank of Ghana (BoG) subsequently cut its policy rate by 250 basis points to 15.5 percent on January 28, 2026, citing improved macroeconomic conditions and inflation falling below target.
The diaspora engagement aligns with broader government efforts to attract foreign direct investment, which fell to 1.66 billion dollars in 2024 from 3.23 billion dollars in 2013. Officials view diaspora capital as particularly valuable given its potential for patience, local knowledge and commitment to long term development outcomes rather than short term financial returns.
