The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has signaled its intention to engage the government over the planned review of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act, which proposes abolishing the minimum capital requirement for foreign investors.
AGI Chief Executive Officer, Seth Twum-Akwaboah, said while local industries are open to foreign partnerships to scale up and leverage recent macroeconomic gains, there is a need for clarity on the potential implications of the reform.
“As a country, we are still having infant industries. If you look at Dubai and the rest, they started with some measures that required local content to enable them to attract investment but at the same time give some level of equity to their indigenes. Today, they have scrapped most of those things,” Mr. Twum-Akwaboah told journalists on the sidelines of Prudential Bank’s Special Customer Seminar on the appreciation of the cedi.
“When you are starting to develop a certain critical aspect of the economy, you need an arrangement that brings the indigenes into it. I think that a partnership between foreign direct investment and local investors will be very important,” he added, stressing that AGI will engage government further to ensure the reform is contextualized and properly communicated.
Economist and Professor of Finance, Godfred Bokpin, has also cautioned against a blanket removal of the threshold, warning that while attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) is critical, policymakers must strike a balance to protect indigenous enterprises.
He further noted that tax concessions and incentives offered to foreign investors must be carefully weighed against their potential impact on the competitiveness of local businesses.
The proposed reform, announced by President John Dramani Mahama at the Presidential Investment Forum in Japan, is aimed at boosting Ghana’s competitiveness as an investment destination by lowering entry barriers and accelerating private sector-led job creation.
“We are open for business and working to review the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act. In the reviewed Act, we are removing those minimal capital investments. This will enable any investor, however little money you have, to be able to come in and set up a business in Ghana,” President Mahama said.
With Ghana’s macroeconomic stability showing signs of recovery and the cedi ranked among Africa’s best-performing currencies in 2025, stakeholders say the debate over the minimum capital requirement is ultimately about finding the right balance between openness to global capital and protection for domestic enterprise.
