The government has announced plans to abolish the minimum capital requirement for foreign investors under the upcoming review of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Act. The policy, we are told, is designed to boost Ghana’s competitiveness, lower entry barriers, and attract more global capital.
President John Dramani Mahama unveiled this reform at the Presidential Investment Forum in Japan, promoting Ghana as a stable market with improving macroeconomic conditions. On the surface, it looks like a bold move to draw investors. But underneath lies a troubling reality that must not be ignored.
It feels almost as though policymakers assume Ghanaians already enjoy easy access to cheap capital, whether locally or abroad, but are simply reluctant to invest. Hence, the state has decided to roll out the red carpet for foreign investors, removing long-standing protections that once shielded Ghanaian enterprises.
The risk is grave. From the largest to the smallest, Ghanaian businesses may face extinction. Foreign investors with access to ultra-low-interest borrowing abroad will flood our markets and take over overnight. And truth be told, Ghanaians already hold very little of their own economy. Commodity imports are dominated by Lebanese and Indians, retail and automobiles have long slipped from Ghanaian hands, and Chinese companies increasingly control construction. Property ownership is no exception. More and more, Ghanaians are becoming tenants in buildings owned by Turkish, Chinese, and Nigerian landlords, even in their own capital city.
The minimum capital requirement was not a perfect solution, but it provided a safety net for local enterprises, especially in small-scale businesses such as trading, barbering, transport, chop bars, and other community services. Abolishing it altogether threatens to expose these fragile sectors to domination by foreigners with deeper pockets and cheaper capital.
This is not competitiveness. It is surrender.
If Ghana must reform the GIPC Act, then let it be done thoughtfully. Instead of removing protections wholesale, the policy should be restructured to strengthen local enterprises through affirmative action schemes, joint ventures, and genuine partnerships. Foreign capital should complement, not cannibalize, Ghanaian business.
We need a strategy that nurtures Ghanaian enterprises to grow strong enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with global players. The state must ask: how can foreign investors plug into existing local strengths, transfer skills, and leave behind more than just profits? Without such intentionality, this reform risks deepening the already worrying trend of Ghanaians being reduced to spectators and tenants in their own economy.
A country cannot prosper if its citizens remain bystanders in the house they built. The abolition of the minimum capital requirement in its current form is not good for Ghana. It must be reconsidered, recalibrated, and redirected to blossom indigenous enterprise rather than bury it under the weight of foreign dominance.
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