Ghana has strengthened its position as West Africa’s leading green construction market following the successful close-out of a three-year capacity-building programme led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), signalling growing commercial and investment opportunities in sustainable building.
The IFC’s Designing for Greater Efficiency (DfGE) program, implemented with funding from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), has helped build a pipeline of trained professionals, modernised academic curricula and accelerated private-sector adoption of green building standards across the country.
Since its launch in 2022, the programme has embedded green building design into five universities, a professional association and a technical institute, training 254 students and industry professionals and preparing 30 certified trainers to deliver the curriculum. More than 870 participants were also reached through workshops, awareness programmes and national design competitions.
IFC officials say the results position Ghana as one of the strongest performers among DfGE participating countries globally, alongside Colombia, Peru, Indonesia and South Africa, and reflect a market increasingly ready to scale low-carbon construction.
Speaking at the program’s close-out event in Accra, IFC Senior Country Officer Yewande Giwa said Ghana’s progress demonstrates the commercial viability of climate-smart buildings. She noted that the skills developed through the programme will support innovation, job creation and long-term growth as demand for energy-efficient and climate-resilient buildings rises.
The momentum is already visible in market uptake. IFC announced that Ghana has surpassed one million square metres of EDGE-certified green building space, the highest in West Africa, with more than 81 certified residential, commercial and public-sector projects.
According to IFC Green Building Lead for Ghana, Paul Ocran, the milestone shows that sustainability is moving from policy aspiration to market reality. He said EDGE certification has helped developers demonstrate that green buildings reduce operating costs while remaining financially viable, strengthening investor confidence in the sector.
The DfGE programme also focused on inclusion, with women accounting for more than a quarter of participants, highlighting gradual shifts in a construction industry traditionally dominated by men.
Representing SECO, Magdalena Wüst said Switzerland’s support was aimed at equipping Ghana’s workforce with practical skills needed to deliver low-carbon buildings at scale, adding that the programme’s impact would extend beyond its formal close-out.
Government officials say the initiative aligns with Ghana’s broader development priorities. Minister for Works, Housing and Water Resources, Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, noted that buildings account for a significant share of energy use and emissions, warning that rapid urbanisation makes sustainable construction a business and policy imperative.
He said the government will continue working with development partners, academia and the private sector to expand climate-resilient housing and infrastructure, describing the programme as a foundation for long-term transformation of Ghana’s built environment.
With the DfGE online course remaining accessible beyond the program’s lifespan and EDGE certification gaining traction among developers, IFC says Ghana now has a stronger ecosystem to attract climate-smart investment and support the growth of a competitive, low-carbon construction industry.
