Territorial location – West Africa. Ghana is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations and has access to the Atlantic Ocean through the Gulf of Guinea. The state has significant reserves of natural resources: deposits contain gold, diamonds, oil, natural gas, and silver; the leading sector of the economy is agriculture: the production of cocoa beans (as the main product for export), as well as crops such as rice, tapioca, peanuts, corn, bananas, and others. You can register a company in Ghana with a corporate tax of 25%.
State regulation
To develop the economy and attract foreign capital, the state of Ghana reviewed and approved a bill, under which GIPC Act 865 has been in effect since 2013. According to this Law, all legal entities registered in Ghana, except for compliance with the requirements of the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179), are required to register with the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC) if at least one foreign person is present in the company structure.
Accordingly, when registering a company in which a foreign person/persons are present, for the subsequent conduct of business, it is necessary to immediately go through registration in the Ghanaian Investment Promotion Center, which implies separate government fees and requirements for the contributed capital of the company.
Companies’ structures for registration
Except for activities related to oil and natural resources production in Ghana, which is regulated by separate laws, in the territory of Ghana, the main structures of companies for registration are:
- LLC (Limited Liability Company)
Registration with the Ghana Investment Promotion Center assumes that for each type of legal entity there are separate requirements and conditions for registration by GIPC Act 865. Due to the fact that the registration of an LLC structure with foreigners in the structure of the company involves the contribution of the capital of 500,000 dollars for non-trading activities and 1 000 000 for trading activities, respectively, the main structure of the company for registration is the External Company, to which such requirements are not put forward.
- Foreign Company in Ghana
An external company legally has restrictions on activities in the territory of Ghana, however, at the same time, such a company does not have any requirements for the authorized capital, and the company itself can be incorporated entirely by non-residents of Ghana.
Registration of a company in Ghana with the legal form of an Outside Company requires only the payment of a registration fee of 1200 USD, as well as a subsequent fee after registration for inclusion in the Ghana Investment Promotion Center (GIPC).
Among the advantages that are obtained with this type of registration are the following:
- No requirements for the authorized capital;
- The ability to register a company without a personal visit;
- The ability to register a company without including local beneficiaries in the structure;
- Possibility of obtaining a work visa for beneficiaries and directors.
Business advantages
The main reasons for setting up a business in Ghana are:
- The convenient geographical location (access to the Atlantic Ocean);
- Political stability;
- Well-developed banking system;
- Established trade relations with other countries (South Africa, China, India, Switzerland, the United States, and the Netherlands);
- Average HDI;
- Tax incentives are available, subject to the opening of an enterprise in the local FEZ (Ghana Export Processing Zone of Tema);
- Availability of both available labor force and qualified specialists;
- Relatively low corporate tax rates.
Promising business areas
Setting up a company in Ghana can be beneficial in tourism, agriculture, and mining.
You can also remotely register a company in Ghana related to export products such as:
- cocoa;
- wood;
- a fish;
- bauxite;
- aluminum;
- manganese ore;
- diamonds.
Key spheres for GDP: information technology, food industry, jewelry and hand-made, metal processing, pharmaceuticals, and packaging.
