Economy of Ghana

Ghana's industrial base is relatively advanced. Import-substitution industries include electronics manufacturing. Rlg Communications is the first indigenous African company to assemble laptops, desktops, and mobile phones, and is West Africa's biggest information and communications technology (ICT) and mobile phone manufacturing company. Ghana began its automotive industry with the construction of a prototype robust SUV, named the SMATI Turtle 1, intended for use in the rough African terrain. It was designed and manufactured by the Artisans of Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization. Urban electric cars have been manufactured in Ghana since 2014. Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and Ghana Oil Company deal with crude oil and gas exploration, exploitation, and refining.

At the end of January 2022, total number of voice subscription in Ghana stood at 41,380,751.This represents a percentage increase of 1.28% over December 2019 figures of 40,857,007. The total penetration rate stands at 136.79%. Competition among mobile-phone companies in Ghana is an important part of the telecommunications industry growth, Current market leader MTN with voice subscription of 23,150,485 representing 55.95% of the market is followed by Vodafone with voice subscription of 9,075,795 representing 21.93% market share, AirtelTigo voice subscription stands at 8,428,322 representing 20.69%, Glo's current voice subscription stands at 726,149 which represent a market share of 1.75%. The mass media of Ghana is among the most liberal in Africa, with Ghana ranking as the third-freest in Africa and 30th-most free in the world on the worldwide press freedom index. Chapter 12 of the Constitution of Ghana guarantees freedom of the Ghanaian press and the independence of the mass media, and Chapter 2 prohibits censorship. Ghana was one of the first countries in Africa to achieve the connection to the World Wide Web.

The financial services in Ghana have seen a lot of reforms in the past years. The Banking (Amendment) Act 2007 included the awarding of a general banking license to qualified banks, which allows only indigenous Ghana offshore banks to operate in country Ghana. Indigenous Ghana private bank Capital Bank was the first to be awarded the general banking license in Ghana as well as indigenous Ghana private banks UniBank, National Investment Bank and Prudential Bank Limited. It has therefore become possible for Ghanaian non-resident individuals or residents and foreign companies or indigenous Ghana companies to open indigenous Ghana offshore bank accounts in Ghana.

The country officially became an oil & gas producer in 2010 with the commissioning of the Jubilee field by Tullow Oil and currently produces from three major offshore hubs: Jubilee, TEN, and OCTP. In 2021, its production stood at some 150,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). Since production began in 2010 Ghana has risen to be the 34th largest national producer of oil. In 2021 Ghana exported more than 71 million barrels of oil. China was the largest importer of Ghana oil, receiving over 41% of exports with South Africa, the second largest importer, taking 13.9%.

Ghana has aggressively begun the construction of solar plants across its sun-rich land in an aim to become the first country to get 6% of its energy from solar energy generation. Since construction began in the early 2010s electricity generation from solar has gone from zero KWh in 2014 to over 60 GWh in 2020, accounting for .46% of Ghana's electricity consumption.

Ghana has Class 4-6 wind resources and high-wind locations, such as Nkwanta, the Accra Plains, and Kwahu and Gambaga mountains. The maximum energy that could be tapped from Ghana's available wind resource for electricity is estimated to be about 500-600 GWh/year. To give perspective: in 2011, per the same Energy Commission, the largest Akosombo hydroelectric dam in Ghana alone produced 6,495 GWh of electric power and, counting all Ghana's geothermal energy production in addition, the total energy generated was 11,200 GWh in that year.

Ghana has 5 billion barrels (790×106 m3) to 7 billion barrels (1.1×109 m3) of petroleum in reserves. A large oilfield which contains up to 3 billion barrels (480×106 m3) of sweet crude oil was discovered in 2007. Since these discoveries Ghana increased production steadily, the nation's current peak is 200,000 barrels per day in 2019. Current production in 2021 stands at 179,900 barrels per day. Ghana has vast natural gas reserves, which are used by many foreign multinational companies operating in Ghana. The hydrocarbon industry has had major implications for regional and urban development in Ghana and these are likely to substantially increase in the years to come. Mining has gained importance in the Ghanaian economy since the turn of the 21st century, with a growth of around 30% in 2007. The main mining extractions are bauxite, gold (Ghana is one of the largest gold producers in the world), and phosphates.

The Ministry of Tourism has placed great emphasis upon further tourism support and development. Tourist destinations include Ghana's many castles and forts, national parks, beaches, nature reserves, landscapes, and World Heritage buildings and sites. In 2011, Forbes magazine ranked Ghana eleventh-friendliest country in the world. Of all the countries on the African continent that were included in the survey, Ghana ranked highest. To enter Ghana, it is necessary to have a visa authorized by the Government of Ghana, except for certain entrepreneurs on business trips.