Ghana wants to see more locally owned companies grow beyond the domestic market and become major players across Africa, with the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA) taking on a new role to support that ambition.
The Chief Executive Officer of GIPA, Simon Madjie, said Ghana’s investment agenda must extend beyond attracting foreign companies to the country to also helping indigenous businesses invest and expand abroad.
“We also need strong domestic businesses that can invest, expand, form partnerships with international institutions, and become major players in their respective industries,” he said.
Madjie was speaking at the Ghana Stock Exchange’s admission of Petrosol Platinum Energy PLC’s GH¢200 million bond programme to the fixed income market.
His comments come as GIPA assumes an expanded mandate under the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority Act, 2026 (Act 1173), which gives the authority responsibility for promoting and facilitating outward investment by Ghanaian enterprises.
Financing the next stage of growth
Madjie said one of the biggest obstacles facing local companies seeking to expand is access to affordable, long-term capital.
He pointed to pension funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors as sources of domestic savings that could provide financing to businesses with viable expansion plans.
The Ghana fixed income market, he said, offers a way of connecting those funds with companies seeking longer-term financing.
Figures from the Ghana Stock Exchange’s July 2026 fixed income market report showed that corporate issuers had raised more than GH¢24 billion through 119 admitted tranches since the market was established.
Trading in corporate securities has also grown sharply.
Between January and July 2026, corporate securities worth GH¢33.71 billion were traded, compared with GH¢2.63 billion during the same period in 2025.
However, corporate securities represented only 1.43 per cent of total trading volume during the period.
Madjie said the relatively small share showed the scope for more companies to turn to the capital market for financing.
A bigger African market
The push for stronger Ghanaian companies comes against the opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Madjie said Ghanaian businesses should be looking beyond the domestic market to new customers, regional value chains and investment opportunities in other African countries.
But competing in those markets will require companies to have adequate financing, skilled personnel, strong internal systems and credible corporate governance.
The new outward-investment role for GIPA is intended to help local companies make that transition.
Madjie said the objective was to support Ghanaian enterprises seeking to expand into African and international markets, strengthen their competitiveness and eventually contribute to the emergence of homegrown Ghanaian multinational companies.
Petrosol shows what is possible
Petrosol’s bond programme provides one example of how a Ghanaian company can strengthen its financing base through the local capital market.
Madjie said the company’s decision to raise funds through the market was relevant to Ghana’s wider investment ambitions because businesses need access to financing if they are to invest ahead of opportunities.
However, he stressed that raising capital also brings greater responsibility.
Companies that borrow from investors must provide timely and accurate disclosures, maintain sound financial controls, strengthen board oversight, manage risks and honour their repayment obligations.
For Petrosol, he said, the ultimate measure of the bond programme would be what the company does with the funds and the value it creates for investors and other stakeholders.
Building companies that can travel
Ghana’s challenge is now to turn local businesses into companies capable of operating at a much larger scale.
Access to capital is one part of that process. Strong management, corporate governance, technical skills and the ability to compete on price and quality will also determine whether Ghanaian companies can establish themselves in other African markets.
For GIPA, that means investment promotion is no longer only about bringing foreign investors into Ghana.
It is also about creating the conditions for Ghanaian businesses to raise capital, grow at home and take Ghanaian ownership and expertise into the wider African market.
Madjie said GIPA would support companies pursuing that expansion while continuing to advocate for a predictable investment environment.
The broader ambition is to see more Ghanaian businesses move from serving the local market to building regional operations and, ultimately, becoming multinational companies headquartered in Ghana.
