Ghana’s private sector has not yet experienced meaningful relief from the country’s improving macroeconomic indicators, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), Mark Baidoo-Aboagye, has said, pointing to high lending rates, expensive utilities and persistent structural cost pressures as the main barriers.
Speaking in an interview with the Business and Financial Times, Mr. Baidoo-Aboagye acknowledged that key indicators including inflation, the cedi exchange rate and interest rates had shown improvement in recent months. He noted that the cedi’s relative stability was beginning to reduce the cost of imports and lower import duties, which are calculated in cedi equivalents. However, he stressed that the real sector does not benefit from these gains immediately.
“There is always a lag. Inflation may be coming down and exchange rates stabilising, but it takes time for these changes to reflect in the cost of doing business,” he said.
The GNCCI CEO pointed to lending rates of between 20 and 25 percent as a particular constraint, describing them as among the highest globally despite recent reductions following the Bank of Ghana’s decision to cut its Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 14 percent in March 2026. He argued that until credit becomes genuinely affordable, businesses will remain unable to scale or invest with confidence.
He also highlighted the high cost of local production as a structural challenge. Expensive electricity, water tariffs and taxes have pushed production costs to a level where imported goods can be cheaper than locally manufactured alternatives, even after accounting for freight and port charges.
“This tells you that cost of production in the country is still high. Even with improvements in inflation and exchange rates, if utility tariffs and taxes remain high, businesses will not feel the full benefit,” he said.
Mr. Baidoo-Aboagye called on the government to sustain efforts to reduce utility tariffs, ease the tax burden on businesses and bring down the cost of credit. He acknowledged that prices of some goods, including building materials, had begun to fall, but cautioned that short-lived gains would not be enough to restore business confidence.
He also flagged exposure to external risks, particularly geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, which he warned could reverse fuel and transport cost improvements. Despite the concerns, he expressed cautious optimism, saying sustained gains would eventually filter through to businesses.
“We are seeing positive signs and we acknowledge the progress made. The key issue now is sustainability. If these gains are maintained, businesses will begin to feel the full impact,” he said.
