GHA · snapshot 2026-08-09
Ghana
HighOverall risk score
59.3
Percentile of scored universe
74th
Data coverage
95%
vs Australia (16.1)
+43.2
Category breakdown
Political Stability & Governance
Medium6 indicators · 100% coverage
Economic Resilience
High7 indicators · 100% coverage
Financial & Currency Risk
Very High5 indicators · 100% coverage
Business Environment
Very High3 indicators · 65% coverage
Security & Crime
High4 indicators · 100% coverage
Climate & Social Compliance
Medium4 indicators · 100% coverage
Technology & Digital
High4 indicators · 100% coverage
Cultural Distance
Insufficient dataInsufficient data · not in overall score
Key risks and considerations
Ghana rates High for market entry — an overall risk score of 59.3, riskier than 74% of rated economies and 43 points riskier than Australia.
The main risk drivers are no double-tax agreement with Australia, no investment-treaty protection with Australia, unstable prices (CPI 14.2%), a restricted capital account that complicates repatriating profits and elevated sovereign credit risk (OECD Category 7 / 7).
Relative strengths: growth volatility sits in the least-risky quarter of rated economies, and GDP growth and current account both rate Low, the least-risky rating band.
Possible mitigations
- Political violence. Consider political-violence and political-risk insurance, keep asset footprints light, and maintain an exit/continuity plan with defined triggers.
- Getting money out. Confirm profit-repatriation channels before committing capital: seek central-bank pre-approvals where required, consider an export-first model over an in-country entity, and structure via clear remittance jurisdictions.
- Currency risk. Invoice in AUD or USD where the market allows, hedge unavoidable exposure, shorten receivable cycles, and build FX buffers into pricing.
- Payment security. Elevated sovereign/transfer risk: prefer confirmed letters of credit or export credit insurance over open account terms, and watch for import-payment restrictions.
- Price instability. Use indexation clauses, shorter pricing cycles, and local-cost pass-through mechanisms so inflation (or deflation) doesn't silently erode margins.
- Withholding tax. No double-tax agreement with Australia: model withholding tax on dividends, interest, and royalties into the business case — it can decide the entity-vs-export question.
Generated automatically from this snapshot’s indicator data — a starting point for analysis, not advice.
Indicators
| Indicator | Value | Risk score | Rating | Australia | Data source year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political Stability & Governance | ||||||
| Voice & accountability (WGI) | 60.4 | 42.2 | Medium | |||
| Government effectiveness (WGI) | 52.5 | 48.0 | Medium | |||
| Regulatory quality (WGI) | 53.4 | 49.5 | Medium | |||
| Rule of law (WGI) | 57.9 | 45.7 | Medium | |||
| Control of corruption (WGI) | 43.9 | 48.6 | Medium | |||
| Political stability & absence of violence/terrorism (WGI PV) | 66.1 | 50.0 | High | |||
| Economic Resilience | ||||||
| GDP growth (3-yr average, %) | 5.0% (3-yr avg) | 15.0 | Low | |||
| Growth volatility (10-yr std dev, pp) | ±2.2 pp | 20.9 | Low | |||
| Government net debt (% of GDP) | 48.8 | 35.0 | Medium | |||
| Inflation (CPI %, vs income-group target) | 14.2 | 95.0 | Very High | |||
| Current account (3-yr average, % of GDP) | 3.1% (3-yr avg) | 15.0 | Low | |||
| FX reserves (months of import cover) | 1.6 months | 80.0 | Very High | |||
| GDP per capita (PPP, current intl $) | $8,610 | 73.6 | High | |||
| Financial & Currency Risk | ||||||
| Capital-account openness (Chinn-Ito KAOPEN) | 0.00 | 92.0 | Very High | |||
| Currency stability (regime-aware classification) | Floating — high volatility (20–35%) | 75.0 | Very High | |||
| Sovereign credit risk (OECD country risk classification) | Category 7 / 7 | 92.0 | Very High | |||
| FATF listing (grey / black list status) | Not listed | 0.0 | Low | |||
| Double-tax agreement with Australia | None in force | 100.0 | Very High | |||
| Business Environment | ||||||
| FDI regulatory restrictiveness (OECD FDIRRI) | — | — | Insufficient data | |||
| Logistics performance (World Bank LPI) | 2.5 | 75.4 | Very High | |||
| Business readiness (World Bank B-READY pillar average) | 56.3 | 70.4 | High | |||
| Investment protection with Australia in force (BIT or FTA investment chapter) | None in force | 100.0 | Very High | |||
| Security & Crime | ||||||
| Armed-conflict intensity (battle deaths per 100k, 5-yr) | 0.1 | 77.2 | Very High | |||
| Intentional homicide rate (per 100k) | 1.8 | 43.8 | Medium | |||
| Organised crime pervasiveness (GI-TOC criminality score) | 5.8 | 64.8 | High | |||
| DFAT Smartraveller advisory level | Level 2 — Exercise a high degree of caution | 40.0 | Medium | |||
| Climate & Social Compliance | ||||||
| Physical climate vulnerability (ND-GAIN vulnerability) | 0.455 | 55.0 | High | |||
| Disaster risk (INFORM Risk Index) | 4.0 | 57.6 | High | |||
| Modern-slavery prevalence (per 1,000) | 2.9 | 19.1 | Low | |||
| Modern-slavery vulnerability score | 45.1 | 42.2 | Medium | |||
| Technology & Digital | ||||||
| E-government development (UN EGDI) | 0.6 | 55.7 | High | |||
| Internet users (% of population) | 72.2 | 64.2 | High | |||
| Cybercrime origination (World Cybercrime Index) | 3.6 | 45.0 | Medium | |||
| Secure internet servers (per million people) | 48.9 | 84.9 | Very High | |||
Per-indicator ratings are quartile bands of the 0–100 risk score. The Australia column shows the same indicator’s raw value for the Australian baseline in this snapshot.
Cultural distance
GLOBE 2004 societal practices · rated on distance from Australia · not in the overall score
Context — not scored
Unemployment
3.0%
Displayed, never scored: ambiguous for an entrant and unreliable where informal employment dominates. (2025, ILO modelled)
Trade agreement
No Australian FTA in force
Market access is decision-relevant but a benefit, not a risk — kept out of the rating.
Regional advisories
Higher levels apply in some areas (up to Level 4)
DFAT Smartraveller sub-national advice where it exceeds the overall level.
Compare with
A score means little on its own. These economies scored closest to Ghana in this snapshot, which is the fastest way to see whether the rating is telling you something specific or something regional.