By Amoako Kwame
The World Bank has warned that Ghana’s business environment remains a major constraint to the country’s growth potential, with unreliable and costly connectivity driving up operating costs, fragmenting markets and discouraging private investment.
The Bank said the challenges are particularly concerning for Ghana’s efforts to diversify its economy beyond extractive sectors such as gold and cocoa, where stronger private-sector participation will be critical to sustaining growth.
Speaking at the launch of the 10th Ghana Economic Update in Accra, World Bank Division Director for Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Robert Taliercio O’Brien, said reforms to improve the business environment were essential if Ghana was to translate its recent macroeconomic gains into sustainable and inclusive growth.
“The business environment is a further drag on growth potential. Unreliable and costly connectivity raises the cost of doing business, fragments markets, and discourages private investment in the non-extractive sectors that Ghana’s diversification depends on,” he said.
The World Bank’s assessment comes as Ghana records a strong improvement in several key macroeconomic indicators.
The economy grew by 6.0% in 2025, its fastest expansion since 2019, before accelerating to 6.4% in the first quarter of 2026.
Inflation has also declined significantly, falling from 23.2% in February 2025 to 4.6%, while public debt dropped from 70.3% of GDP in 2024 to 49% at the end of 2025.
Despite the improvement, the World Bank cautioned that the gains could prove vulnerable if longstanding structural constraints affecting businesses and investment are not addressed.
Transport infrastructure remains a major constraint
The World Bank also identified Ghana’s transport infrastructure as a critical area requiring attention, warning that inadequate connectivity is undermining productivity, competitiveness and job creation.
Ghana’s estimated 94,200-kilometre road network, has only 27% is paved, while more than half is reported to be in fair to poor condition. Feeder roads, in particular, remain significantly affected.
Mr Taliercio stressed that transport infrastructure should not be viewed solely as a construction or infrastructure issue, but as a key component of Ghana’s broader economic development strategy.
“This is not just an infrastructure story – it is a growth story, a competitiveness story, a jobs story,” he said.
The 10th Ghana Economic Update examines the country’s recent economic performance and outlines policy measures the World Bank believes could help sustain the recovery, address structural bottlenecks and promote stronger, more inclusive and private-sector-led growth.
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