The fourth review of the trade policies and practices of Ghana took place on 26 and 28 May 2014. The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Government of Ghana.

Download documents from the review below.

Concluding remarks by the Chairperson

This fourth Trade Policy Review of Ghana has provided a timely opportunity to analyse developments in its trade and investment policies since its last review in 2008. I would like to thank H.E. Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of trade & industry; Ambassador Sammie Pesky EDDICO, Permanent Representative of Ghana to the WTO; and the rest of the Ghana delegation, for their full commitment to this exercise. I would also like to thank Ambassador Wiboonlasana RUAMRAKSA, Permanent Representative of Thailand to the WTO, for her insightful interventions as discussant. 

Ghana’s political stability, its strong democratic foundations, and the strengthening of legal protection, including through the recent creation of specialized commercial courts, have improved its business environment and contributed to attracting large foreign direct investment. As a result, and also following exploitation of petroleum, Ghana has experienced impressive economic growth and social development in recent years. This has succeeded in halving the level of extreme poverty and placing Ghana in the group of medium income developing countries.

Recently however, serious macroeconomic imbalances have been a cause of concern, and have been jeopardizing Ghana’s continued expansion. Members thus asked about Ghana’s plans for macroeconomic stabilisation. In particular, clarification was sought about the newly introduced foreign exchange restrictions to address the recent depreciation of the cedi. Noting that the Ghanaian economy relies mainly on the export of primary commodities, namely cocoa, gold and, since 2010, crude oil, whose price volatility is a factor of instability for the economy, Members asked about its plans for diversification, and for a better governance in the oil sector. They urged Ghana to adopt a competition policy with a view to further improving its business environment.

On Ghana’s new investment law, many participants raised concern about, inter alia, the increase in the number of restricted sectors and in the minimum capital amounts to levels that exceed GATS commitments. Members also enquired about the general increase in local participation provisions in Ghana’s recent statutes in the shipping and energy sectors, including petroleum.

Members commended Ghana on its renewed commitment to the WTO, but urged Ghana to better meet its notification obligations and improve the transparency in its legal system by making acts and regulation available online. With respect to regional agreements, Members noted that Ghana had actively participated both in ECOWAS negotiations towards a common external tariff (CET), and in an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union; however, it was noted that the pace of intra-ECOWAS integration remains slow.

Specific subjects raised by Members during the review include:

• Trade facilitation: Members called for rapid and far-reaching reforms of border procedures, in particular inspection, scanning, and port clearance, so as to achieve the standards of a modern economy. They urged Ghana to reduce the numerous entities which intervene at the border and collect fees. We hope that Ghana would rapidly make the necessary commitments under the Trade Facilitation Agreement.

• Tariffs and other taxes: Members noted the very low level of tariff binding commitments by Ghana, at high rates, and stressed that the large gap between applied and bound rates had made possible the frequent recent tariff increases; they expressed the hope that the implementation of the ECOWAS CET would enhance the stability and predictability of Ghana’s tariff. Members also noted that Ghana maintains several other duties and charges, despite their binding at zero under the GATT, and stressed that numerous exemptions from border taxes further complicate the tax regime. More information was sought about Ghana’s incentive schemes, including under the Free Zone regime.

• TBT, SPS and IPRs: Members welcomed the perspective for new legislation that would appropriately differentiate between standards and technical regulations, and rationalize the “high risk goods” statute. They noted the 2012 modernization of Ghana’s SPS framework; and called for better inter-ministerial coordination, for example via national TBT and SPS committees. Concerns were raised about the enforcement of IPR legislation.

• Agriculture: Members praised Ghana for the good performance of its agriculture, including food production and cocoa, supported by domestic policies and strong world prices. They praised ongoing land ownership reforms, but invited Ghana to notify the Cocoa Marketing Company to the WTO Committee on State Trading Enterprises. Members also sought explanations for the low growth of the fishing, livestock and forestry sectors.

• Mining: Members welcomed Ghana’s announced efforts to manage the new petroleum revenues in a transparent manner for the benefit of its citizens, including through the creation of wealth funds, but asked about implementation challenges. Efforts to deregulate the downstream petroleum industry were commended, as was the increase in electricity production with a view to curbing the still frequent power cuts. 

• Services: Members commended Ghana’s efforts to accelerate the modernisation of its services sectors, in particular information and communication technology; and also the recent issuing of licences to foreign telecommunication companies. In financial services, Members commended the steps taken through new laws to facilitate access to credit by small operators.

Members appreciated answers to about 150 advance written questions and looked forward to written replies to the outstanding questions no later than one month after this meeting. 

In conclusion, I hope that this review will be of use to Ghana to modernize its external trade regime in line with recent domestic achievements, and in so doing boost the competitiveness of its products and services. Economic prospects would be enhanced if Ghana also undertook macroeconomic reforms, and reviewed its investment regime. The participation of a sizeable number of delegations in this Review, despite the holding of concomitant meetings, and the large number of questions posed indicated the importance of Ghana as a trading partner for WTO Members.

In closing, I would like to thank the delegation of Ghana, all the other delegations, the discussant, the Secretariat and the interpreters; for this successful fourth review of Ghana’s trade policies.