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Doing business & staying in touch

Appointments are customary and visitors should always be punctual for meetings. Best time for business visits is from September to April.

Office hours: 

Mon-Fri 0800-1200 and 1300-1700.

Economy: 

Most of the population works in agriculture, producing subsistence and cash crops. The most important of the latter is cocoa, of which Ghana is one of the world's major producers. Ghana has suffered from consistently low world prices, but in 2003/4, it became the second largest producer of cocoa in the world for the first time in 30 years.

The country's main industry is mining, particularly for diamonds and gold, and this is both a major employer and an important foreign currency earner.

The state has tried to cushion the economy's vulnerability through intervention and subsidies. Since 2001 the Kufuor administration has achieved some success in stabilising the macroeconomy through the introduction of tighter economic policies. Receipts from the gold sector helped sustain GDP growth in 2004; however inflation remains a major internal problem.

Ghana is a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

GDP: 

US$18 billion (2010).

Main exports: 

Gold, cocoa, timber, bauxite and diamonds.

Main imports: 

Industrial raw materials, equipment, petroleum and food.

Main trading partners: 

Nigeria, USA, Togo, UK and Germany.

Mobile phone: 

Coverage is good around main towns and patchy to non-existent elsewhere. Roaming agreements exist with numerous companies.

Internet: 

Internet facilities can be found throughout the country in most towns but connection is usually very slow. Hotels have faster access. Internet popularity is rapidly growing and service is improving to keep up with demand.

Post: 

Airmail letters to Europe may take two weeks or more to arrive.

Media: 

A free press operates in Ghana. There are no major restrictions on private press and broadcasters, who are regularly critical of government policy. Lively radio phone-in programmes are common and popular. Numerous private radio stations compete for limited advertising revenue in Accra and elsewhere. The state-run Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) runs national TV and radio networks.

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