Ghana’s new foreign reserve policy, aimed at building forex reserves equivalent to 15 months of import cover by 2028, has been touted as bold and audacious, but not impossible.
The policy dubbed, Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy, GANRAP, is targeted at tripling the country’s current foreign reserves by 2028.
Amid the new direction announced by the Minister for Finance, U.S.-based finance professor Williams Kwasi Peprah of Andrews University says despite the audacious nature of the policy, it is not beyond reach.
In an exclusive interaction with The High Street Journal, Prof. Peprah stressed that the direction is “ambitious, but not impossible.”
The Road Map: From 5.7 Months to 15
He explains that at the end of 2025, Ghana’s gross international reserves stood at roughly US$13.8 billion, sufficient for about 5.7 months of import cover. This already reflected a rapid buildup over the past years, largely supported by the government’s gold-purchase strategy.
Under the Ghana Accelerated National Reserve Accumulation Policy (GANRAP), authorities are targeting intermediate milestones. The government seeks to achieve about 8.6 months of import cover by end-2026, 11.8 months by 2027, and 15 months by 2028.
This means nearly tripling Ghana’s import cover within three years.
What Must Go Right for this Succeed
Professor Peprah emphasized that although this target is feasible, certain strict conditions are required to make it successful.
He tells The High Street Journal that, first, foreign exchange inflows must remain strong and sustained. That includes continued gold receipts under the state-backed gold accumulation programme, stronger export earnings, and stable capital inflows.
Ghana, he says, must pray to swerve major external shocks. A sharp fall in gold prices, global capital outflows, or another commodity shock could slow the accumulation path.
“The target implies roughly tripling import cover in three years feasible if large and persistent FX inflows continue (gold receipts, higher export earnings, capital inflows) and if no major external shocks occur,” the Finance Professor noted.
A Common Move or Unprecedented?
To breakdown how ambitious the policy is, Prof. Peprah compared this new approach on the global scale and to Ghana’s peers.
He explains that many emerging market economies operate with three to six months of import cover. Moreover, the IMF’s traditional comfort threshold is around three months.
With this trend, he assess that Ghana’s target of 15 months buffer is unusually large. However, he was quick to add that it is not reckless. It is precautionary.
Professor Peprah characterizes the strategy as closer to what some commodity exporters and small open economies do when they choose to “self-insure” heavily against global shocks. It is not common practice, but it is not unprecedented either.
For him, Ghana, in effect, is choosing a high-insurance model rather than the minimum safety net approach.
“Some commodity exporters or fiscally strong countries hold much higher buffers, but those tend to have different fiscal space and deep liquid markets. In that sense Ghana is moving toward the precautionary strategy used by a subset of commodity exporters and small open economies that self-insure heavily,” he explained.
He added, “It is not the global norm, but not unprecedented. The policy is therefore closer to a deliberate, insurance-driven strategy rather than a routine peer benchmark.”
The Bottomline
Professor Peprah maintains that Ghana is attempting to reposition itself from a vulnerable, shock-prone economy to one with substantial defensive capacity.
He says 15 months of import cover would place Ghana well above most regional peers. It would not be the global norm, however it is a good path to resilience.
The question now is whether Ghana can sustain the discipline required to achieve it.
For him, Ambitious? Yes. Impossible? Not if the inflows continue, the spending is restrained, and the external environment does not turn hostile.
