With a GDP of $74.26 billion US dollars in 2021, Ghana is the second largest economy in West-Africa. It is an attractive country to do business in due to its continued political stability and liberal business environment. Pre-pandemic, Ghana was an extremely fastgrowing economy, with a GDP growth rate of
6.5% in 2019 according to the IMF. Ghana also has the second highest internet penetration in sub Saharan Africa, at 53% in 2022 (datareportal), making it particularly appealing to tech companies. The services sector is the largest contributor to Ghana’s GDP, representing about 45%.
With Ghana’s economic strength in the services sector, stability and comparatively high connectivity, it has become a start-uphub in Africa. Major international companies such as Google AI and Twitter base their
African headquarters in Ghana. The start-up ecosystem in Ghana has been further boosted by the introduction of start-up hubs emerging from a mix of international funding, domestic resources, and the sheer determination and enterprising initiative of Ghanaians. Today, Ghana is home to over 50
entrepreneurship-support institutions, spread over the country in different regions.
Current ecosystem
In the space of ten years, the Ghanaian startup landscape has seen a large number of
hubs emerge. What was once only found in the capital of Accra, has spread to all corners
of the country, with every region having at least one hub. With an enabling environment, growing tech talent and increasing investment from international companies, the Ghana tech ecosystem raised its
positioning in terms of attractiveness and visibility within (West) Africa.
The combination of increased money-inflow, greater awareness and attention, and the ever-increasing success of Ghanaian
entrepreneurs has helped shift the cultural and societal understandings of entrepreneurship. Where once, the only “prestigious” careers were seen as doctor, lawyer, engineer, now the title of
“entrepreneur” has grown in respect, appreciation, and prestige. Many of the ecosystem institutions are well connected with each other and also with the local communities they operate in. One reason being that the tech ecosystem is mostly shaped by Ghanaians.
This ensures a strong local “branding” and “grounding”, which positively affects ecosystem growth and content creation as local needs are catered too. In particular tech hubs outside the major cities are cited as one of the main factors counteracting rural-urban migration by providing the digital skills and knowledge base to make a living in the community. Agritech holds high promises for both urban and rural setting in Ghana. The sub-sector is however yet underrepresented in the start-up sphere due to reasons such as land scarcity in conglomerates, little innovation along the whole value chain, agriculture holding the image of being labour-intense and less attractive to youth etc. Still, some agribusiness companies such as AcquahMeyer, TroTroTracto, Esoko, GrowForMe andTechShelta have entered into the space, hoping to address and solve many of these issues. To support them, there are a few hubs such as Kosmos Innovation Center, Recycle Up Ghana, Tech Farm Hub and AgriCo Hub which place a strong focus on agritech. Most other tech hubs are sector agnostic or have fintech as a sector focus.