Several multinational, regional, and bilateral agreements govern Ghana’s overseas commerce.
Ghana – United States
The United States and Ghana have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate collaboration between the two governments to boost American enterprises’ engagement in their respective nations’ priority business sectors. Ghana and the United States have a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). The American Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programs provide duty-free tariff preferences for many Ghanaian exports to the United States.
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Ghana has been a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for many years and is a party to the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, which governs customs procedures and processes. Ghana has been a member of the WTO since January 1, 1995, and of the GATT since October 17, 1957.
ECOWAS and AfCFTA
Ghana is a member of ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, and the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Ghana is a signatory to the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which has been signed and ratified by 40 African Union countries and has an Accra-based Secretariat.
Ghana and the European Union
The European Union and Ghana signed an interim Economic Partnership Agreement (iEPA) on the 1st of July, 2021. The iEPA has guaranteed duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market for Ghanaian products. Ghana is now liberalizing access to its market for 80 percent of the total EU export volume. This would also increase the competitiveness of locally produced items and help Ghana’s industrial development and integration into global value chains. It also improves prospects for EU companies to trade and invest in Ghana, as well as produce items for sale to the larger African market. Under the iEPA, tariffs on intermediary items and machinery from the EU will be removed, resulting in cheaper inputs for Ghanaian manufacturing. Furthermore, under the iEPA, trade-related development cooperation will help Ghana restructure its fiscal revenue system, improve its business environment, and support the upgrading of its productive sectors. Trading under the iEPA underscores both Ghana and the EU’s strong desire to strengthen their long-standing trade and economic ties.
Ghana and the United Kingdom have an Interim Trade Partnership Agreement
The UK government signed an Interim Trade Partnership Agreement with the Republic of Ghana on March 2, 2021. The temporary deal, according to a study released with it, will assist to minimize commercial disruption between the two countries following the UK’s exit from the European Union. The interim agreement provides for duty-free and quota-free access to the UK for goods originating in Ghana, a gradual liberalization of tariffs on UK imports to Ghana, and safeguards allowing the parties to reintroduce duties or quotas in specified circumstances, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, and trade facilitation measures. Ghana is the UK’s 75th largest trading partner, contributing to less than 1% of overall trade. In 2019, the total value of goods and services traded between the UK and Ghana reached £1.2 billion.
Ghana and South Africa
In December 2021, Ghana and South Africa signed cooperation agreements aiming at strengthening ties. They signed a Memorandum of Understanding on agricultural cooperation as well as trade and investment cooperation, among other things.
Ghana and Rwanda
Rwanda and Ghana have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will improve commercial and economic ties between the two nations. On Friday, January 28, the deal was signed. The two nations are ready to put the MoU into action and greatly increase bilateral trade and economic cooperation, which has been low despite their close relationship.
