Ghana, rich in agricultural resources, timber, gold and other valuable minerals, abundant with educated skilled and enterprising people, blessed with a stable form of government and dedicated to the principles of free enterprise, has long been seen as one of Africa 's most promising countries.
The main exports – gold, cocoa, diamond, timber, manganese and bauxite – known as “traditional” items, are now increasingly supplemented by processed and semi-processed industrial and agricultural products with tourism as the third largest foreign currency earner after cocoa and gold.
Economic Recovery Programme
Ghana began an Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) in 1983, and has undertaken a series of comprehensive macroeconomic and structural adjustment reforms aimed at reversing the economic decline that had characterised the state of the economy for almost a decade. The reform programme included restructuring of institutions, diversifying the economy's capacity to adjust to both external and internal shocks and to generate sustainable growth and development.
Government Initiatives
Over the decade, the Government initiated specific policies to lay a firmer foundation for private sector development. The policies include the introduction of monetary and banking sector reforms: the Financial Sector Adjustment Programme (FINSAP) aimed at improving the private sector's access to capital by transferring non-performing assets of some of the State-owned banks to the Non-Performing Assets Recovery Trust to enable the banks to re-capitalise and the reduction of corporate taxes for most business activities from 45 per cent to 35 per cent.
Others are acceleration of the privatisation of State-owned enterprises, application of stronger discipline to the remaining State enterprises through establishment of corporate plans, performance agreements with the Government; and rehabilitation of roads, ports and the telecommunications system.
Development and operation of export processing zones.
Incentives
All sectors are open foreign investment and 100% foreign ownership.
Corporate Tax – 8% on export income from the non-traditional export sector, 25% for Hotels and 35% for all other sector.
Location incentives: Tax rebates for manufacturing in certain locations.
Tax Holidays: ranging from 3 to 10 years for sector such as agricultural processing, real estate and rural banking.
Other tax concessions such as accelerated depreciation for plant and building expenditure, 5 years Loss Carry-Over in all sectors, and fully deductible Capital Expenditure for R&D.
On March 6, 1957, Ghana became the first country in Africa south of sahara to gain independence from colonial rule. 2009, marks 52 years of independence.
