The World Bank has issued a stark warning that Ghana’s business environment remains a major constraint to the country’s growth potential, with unreliable and expensive connectivity increasing operating costs, fragmenting markets, and discouraging private investment .
Robert Taliercio O’Brien, World Bank Division Director for Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, delivered the assessment at the launch of the 10th Ghana Economic Update in Accra. He said improving the business environment is critical if Ghana is to translate its recent macroeconomic gains into sustainable and inclusive growth .
“The business environment is a further drag on growth potential — unreliable and costly connectivity raises the cost of doing business, fragments markets, and discourages private investment in the non-extractive sectors that Ghana’s diversification depends on,” Taliercio stated .
Macroeconomic Gains at Risk
The World Bank’s caution comes against a backdrop of significant economic recovery. Ghana’s economy grew by 6.0% in 2025, its fastest pace since 2019, before accelerating to 6.4% in the first quarter of 2026 . Inflation has fallen sharply from 23.2% in February 2025 to 4.6% currently, while public debt dropped from 70.3% of GDP in 2024 to 49% at the end of 2025 .
However, the World Bank cautioned that these gains remain vulnerable if structural constraints affecting businesses and investment are not addressed .
The Bank’s Tenth Ghana Economic Update assesses the country’s recent economic performance and outlines policy measures needed to sustain recovery and promote stronger, more inclusive growth .
Infrastructure as a Binding Constraint
The World Bank identified Ghana’s transport sector as a critical area requiring reform, arguing that poor connectivity is limiting productivity, competitiveness, and job creation .
Of Ghana’s approximately 94,200-kilometre road network, only 27% is paved, while more than half of the network is in fair to poor condition, with feeder roads particularly affected . The country’s road density, at approximately 32.8 kilometres per 100 square kilometres, nearly doubles the African regional average . However, road-quality perception scores remain modest, hovering around 3.5 out of 7 on international indices, significantly below regional leaders like Benin .
Taliercio said the transport sector should therefore be treated not simply as an infrastructure issue, but as a key driver of economic growth and competitiveness.
“This is not just an infrastructure story — it is a growth story, a competitiveness story, a jobs story,” he said .
Port Delays Compound Business Challenges
Beyond road infrastructure, persistent delays at Ghana’s ports continue to undermine trade flows and constrain private-sector growth. According to the World Bank’s Business Ready (B-READY) assessment, export clearance takes an average of nine days in Ghana, while imports require nearly 23 working days . By contrast, peer economies like Cameroon achieve clearance within five to eight days .
Ghana performed strongly in the regulatory framework pillar of the B-READY assessment, scoring 69 out of 100, but lagged in operational efficiency — recording a score of 52 points — placing the country in the bottom 40% of assessed categories . The Bank’s data also indicated that Ghana’s overall business readiness ranged from 72% in financial services to just 34% in market competition .
World Bank Senior Economist Subika Farazi noted that although Ghana has relatively strong business regulations, weaknesses persist in the implementation and efficiency of those rules . She highlighted a particular weakness in market competition, saying trade-related bottlenecks persisted .
The Diversification Imperative
The World Bank’s concerns come as Ghana faces growing calls to diversify its economy beyond extractive industries such as gold and cocoa . In February 2026, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II declared that cocoa alone can no longer sustain Ghana’s economic ambitions, urging a strategic diversification of the tree crop sector toward cashew, coconut, oil palm, rubber, mango, and shea .
However, the Bank’s assessment suggests that achieving this diversification will require a substantial improvement in the broader business environment.
Presidential Advisor on the 24-Hour Economy, Goosie Tanoh, speaking on the B-READY findings, said Ghana’s performance shows promise but also exposes structural challenges, particularly in operational efficiency . He noted that the 24-Hour Economy Initiative is anchored on renewable energy, with energy generated within industrial parks expected to be supplied at prices as low as $0.07 per kilowatt hour to encourage investment and reduce energy costs .
A Persistent Poverty Challenge
Despite the positive macroeconomic indicators, the World Bank report noted that 56.4% of Ghana’s population remains in poverty, with spatial disparities widening . Growth has been concentrated in sectors with limited job creation capacity, failing to translate into improved living conditions for many households .
Taliercio stressed the importance of addressing structural challenges, including rising electricity tariffs, strains in the cocoa sector, and large unmet infrastructure financing needs that continue to weigh on macro-fiscal stability and household welfare .
The World Bank is working closely with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, the 24-Hour Economy Secretariat, and other stakeholders to address constraints facing the private sector and improve the investment climate, with job creation identified as the Bank’s top priority in its engagement with the country .
For Ghana to sustain its recovery and achieve meaningful economic transformation, the Bank’s message was unequivocal: decisive action on business environment reforms is not optional — it is essential .
