President John Dramani Mahama has urged an early end to the US–Iran conflict, warning that the war is weighing on global economic conditions and keeping the cost of doing business high in Ghana.
Speaking at the US–Ghana Presidential Roundtable in New York, Mahama said Ghana’s recent economic performance had been encouraging: the economy grew 6% in 2025 and recorded 6.4% year-on-year growth in the first quarter of 2026. Inflation had fallen sharply, though it has recently risen to 5%.
“Of course, everybody knows what’s happening in Iran. We’re praying that that conflict comes to an end early. I’m sure that the US itself is feeling the pinch of that war,” he said.
The conflict, which began in late February 2026, has disrupted global energy markets, pushing oil prices higher and feeding through to fuel, transport and food costs. For Ghana, an oil importer, the spillover has complicated efforts to sustain disinflation and lower production costs. The central bank has flagged higher crude prices, utility tariffs and supply-chain pressures as inflation risks.
Mahama said macroeconomic stability must deliver real gains. “These gains matter, but stability is not an end in itself. We start stability so businesses can plan with greater certainty. Investors can decide with greater confidence and productive enterprises can grow,” he said.
He said the next phase must be felt in the cost of capital and operating expenses. “The gains we have made must now begin to show in the cost of doing business. Interest rates must come down. Long-term financing must become more available.”
More capital, he added, must flow into agriculture, manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, technology and other productive activities.
The remarks come as Ghana’s average lending rate fell to 15.9% in August 2026 from 24.2% a year earlier, while the policy rate was held at 14% in September. Businesses, however, continue to complain that credit remains expensive and short-term.
Mahama also used the roundtable to press for a shift in Ghana–US relations from aid to trade and investment. Bilateral trade in goods and services reached about $4.6 billion in 2025. He cited the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority Act, 2026 (Act 1173), which removes blanket minimum capital requirements for foreign investors, and said foreign direct investment reached about $2.6 billion in 2025—four times the 2024 level.
He urged American companies to see Ghana not only as a market of 34 million people but as a gateway to the African Continental Free Trade Area, whose secretariat is in Accra, and a market of more than 1.4 billion people. “Do not look at Ghana’s 34 million population only for what you can sell there. Look at Ghana for what you can produce and sell across Africa and to the world,” he said.
Background
The US–Iran conflict has been described by Bloomberg Economics as a severe blow to a global economy still adjusting to historic US tariff hikes. For Europe, sustained higher energy prices risk pushing the economy toward recession; for the US, the war places the Federal Reserve in a difficult position between rising inflation and political pressure for rate cuts.
Ghana has not been immune. The country’s petrochemical sector has been identified as at risk, prompting calls, including from former Lands and Natural Resources Minister Samuel Abu Jinapor, for urgent measures to cushion citizens. Mahama has said Ghana holds six weeks of petroleum stocks and six months of export cover, while government reviews fuel margins and levies. Gross international reserves stand at about $12 billion—enough to cover 4.5 months of imports—and services, especially ICT, helped drive second-quarter growth.
As the roundtable ended, Mahama’s message was clear: Ghana is open for business, but the global environment must be stable for that promise to be fully realised.
