RESTRICTED  
  
WT/TPR/G/298  
16 April 2014  
(14-2342)  Page: 1/12  
Trade Policy Review Body  Original: English  
 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW 
REPORT BY 
GHANA 
Pursuant to the Agreement Establishing the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (Annex 3 of the 
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trad e Organization), the policy statement by Ghana 
is attached. 
 
 
Note: This report is subject to restricted circulation and press embargo until the end of the first 
session of the meeting of Ghana. WT/TPR/G/298 • Ghana 
 
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  Contents 
1   INTROD UCTION  .......................................................................................................... 3  
2   MACRO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMEN T AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE ........................... 3  
2.1   Fisca l Policy ........................................................................................................... ... 3 
2.2   Monetary Policy ......................................................................................................... 4  
2.3   Inflation Development ................................................................................................ 5  
2.4   Interest Ra te Development ......................................................................................... 5  
2.5   Exchange Ra te Development ....................................................................................... 5  
2.6   External Sector Policy ................................................................................................ 5  
2.7   External and Domestic Debt ........................................................................................ 5  
3   GHANA'S INTERNATIONAL TRADE RELATIONS ............................................................ 6  
3.1   The Multilateral Trading System ................................................................................... 6  
3.2   Regional Integration .................................................................................................. 7  
3.2.1   Economic Community of We st African States  (ECOWAS) ............................................... 7  
3.2.2   Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU ..................................................... 8  
3.3   Bilate ral Tr ade ......................................................................................................... . 8 
4   GHANA'S SECTORAL POLICY FRAM EWORK .................................................................. 9  
4.1   The Ghana Trade Policy and Trade Sector Support Programme ......................................... 9  
4.2   The New Ghana Industrial Policy ................................................................................. 10 
4.3   The Industrial Sector  Support Prog ramme (ISSP) .......................................................... 11 
4.4   The National Export Strategy for Non-Traditional Exports (NTEs) ..................................... 11 
5   TRADE-RELATED TECH NICAL ASSIST ANCE ................................................................ 11  
6   CONC LUSION............................................................................................................. 12  
 
 WT/TPR/G/298 • Ghana 
 
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1  INTRODUCTION 
1.1.  Ghana is located on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa with a population of approximately 
24 million people growing at an annual rate of 2.4%. Ghana has a total land surface area 
of 238,540 square kilometres and lies on the Atlantic with 540 kilometres coastline.  
1.2.  Ghana joined the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in October 1957 after 
attaining independence in March 1957 and became a founding member of the World Trade 
Organization (WTO) in 1995. Ghana is a firm believ er in the tenets of the Multilateral Trading 
System (MTS) and steps are being taken to implement WTO-consistent policies.  
1.3.  Ghana has undertaken measures to ensure extensive reform with a view of putting its 
economy in good footing. The Ghanaian econ omy has been growing at above 7% since 2007. 
Growth has been driven mainly by the service and industrial sectors. The country registered a very 
remarkable growth of 15% in 2011 with the commencement of crude oil production. 
1.4.  The economy has however been facing some challenges since 2011 and these include 
weakening commodity prices at the international market and energy crises at home. In spite of 
these the policy resolve of fiscal prudence and ma cro-economic stability was not compromised. In 
the medium term the commencement of gas produc tion and additional crude oil production are 
likely to impact positively on the economy.  
2  MACRO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE 2.1  Fiscal Policy 2.1.  Ghana's overall growth and relatively st able macroeconomic environment facilitated its 
transition from a low-income economy to a lower-middle-income economy, with a robust services 
and industry base driving growth. 
2.2.  The rebasing of the GDP from 1993 base year  to 2006 led to changes in the size of the GDP, 
growth rates, sectoral contributions and all re lated indicators that use the GDP. The most 
significant features of the rebasing were a 60.3% increase in the size of the GDP in the base year 2006, with the services sector emerging as the largest contributor to the GDP. GDP growth 
rate was around 8.6% between 2007 and 2011. The GDP growth in 2012 was 7.9 % compared to 
15% in 2011 (which represents the full year of oi l production in Ghana) and 8% in 2010. In 2010, 
Ghana had a per capita income of US$1,329 with a GDP value of US$32.2 billion and the per capita income in 2012 was US$1,564 with a GDP value of US$40.3billion. The principal sectors of 
the economy – agriculture, services and industry (including oil) – grew 1.3%, 10.2% and 7% of 
GDP in 2012 respectively. 
2.3.  Ghana's fiscal policy objectives since 2008 have been in line with the overall macroeconomic 
goals of stability for accelerated growth and development. In this regard, far-reaching fiscal policy 
reforms have been implemented in order to increase efficiency in tax and expenditure administration. 
2.4.  Over the medium-term, government fiscal policy aims at ensuring fiscal prudence and debt 
sustainability through improving revenue mobilization, rationalizing and enhancing the efficiency of public expenditures and reviewing financing methods. The Government also plans to focus on fiscal policy that will ensure transparent, effective an d efficient natural resource revenue management, 
and continue with the ongoing reforms to strengthen financial management and management of 
financial risks. 
2.5.  The budget deficit, which stood at 6.6% of GDP in 2008, fell to 4% in 2011 due mainly to the 
government's fiscal consolidation measures, as well as adherence to budgetary constraints. 
In 2012, however, the fiscal deficit increased to 11.8% of GDP. The increase in the deficit is primarily attributable to shortfalls in revenue and grants resulting from the non-realization of 
corporate taxes from oil companies and non-disbursement of programmed grants from 
development partners. Shortfalls in corporate income taxes amounted to GH¢708.2 million in 2012. Shortfalls in grants from developmen t partners were GH¢389.4 million in 2012. Higher WT/TPR/G/298 • Ghana 
 
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  than expected spending on arrears as a result of  implementing the Single Spine Salary Structure 
(SSSS), interest cost, utility and fuel subsidies, as well as higher spending on goods and services also contributed to the deficit.  
2.6.  The 2013 Fiscal policy aimed to achieve fisca l prudence, resulting in sustainable debt limits 
and a reduction in the budget deficit from 11.8% of GDP in 2012 to 9.0% of GDP in 2013. 
However, initial focus of the Fiscal policy for 2013 was on resource mobilization. Total revenue and grants for the period was GH¢13,868.2 million, equi valent to 15.9% of GDP, against a target of 
GH¢16,341.9 million, equivalent to 18.4% of GDP. The shortfall in total revenue and grants was 
mainly due to lower than anticipated domestic revenue collections and partly as a result of low disbursement of grants from our development partners. 
2.7.  The Government has put in place the following pragmatic measures to reduce the budget 
deficit:  
i. Improved revenue mobilization through the Ghana Revenue Authority's (GRA) on-
going Modernization Programme, thus replacing the manual revenue collection method 
with the electronic/automated system; 
ii. Realigning key budget items and enhancing the efficiency of public expenditures 
through the on-going Public Financial Ma nagement (PFM) reforms, including the 
Ghana Integrated Computerised Financial Management System (GIFMIS). The GIFMIS 
is used in budget preparation and execution, accounting and financial reporting as well as cash and asset management. The system is expected to eliminate the issues of poor financial oversight and other unbudgeted government expenditures; 
iii. The Government has also put in place a programme to diversify our export base from 
the export of primary commodities to processed higher-earning value added products and the gradual abatement in the capital allowances granted the oil producing 
companies which will work together to increase our foreign exchange earnings and in 
the process, increase the country's gross international reserves.  
2.2  Monetary Policy 
2.8.  Like many other countries, monetary policy has undergone a number of phases in Ghana. 
These are: Control regime; Monetary Targeting and Inflation Targeting. 
2.9.  The focus of monetary policy since the year  2007 has been on achieving price and exchange 
rate stability as key elements in creating an environment conducive to the achievement of 
sustainable economic growth. 
2.10.  To strengthen the Central Bank in the co nduct of monetary policy, Parliament passed into 
law a Bank of Ghana Act 2001 (Act 612). This Act has: 
 refocused the primary objective of monetary policy as "stability in the general level of 
prices"; 
 provided for the establishment of the monetary policy committee; and  
 granted the Central Bank operational independence. 
2.11.  Monetary policy under the current inflation-targeting regime has played a key role in 
stabilising the economy and significantly reducing the level of volatility in inflation and inflationary expectations. 
2.12.  The new statutory mandate of the Central Bank  is firmly rooted in a resurgence of public 
interest in economic policy and a heightened aversion for inflation and awareness of how much stability contributes to raising the standard of living of Ghanaians.  WT/TPR/G/298 • Ghana 
 
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  2.13.  As part of the broader objective of ma croeconomic stability, monetary policy in 2013 was 
programmed to complement efforts at sustaining the single digit inflation target as well as spur growth during the year. 
2.14.  Growth in broad money supply, including foreign currency deposits (M2+) declined 
from 42.4% in 2008 to 24.3% in 2012 compared with 33.2% in 2011. Growth in M2+ in 2012 was 
driven by Net Domestic Assets (NDA) of the ba nking system, which went up by 50.6% while Net 
Foreign Assets (NFA) declined 10.1%. 
2.3  Inflation Development 
2.15.  Headline inflation generally trended upwards in 2008, ending the year at 16.5% from 10.7% 
in 2007. It increased to 19.3% in 2009 but consistently declined to record 8.8% in 2012. Although the Government achieved its goal of consistent single-digit levels of inflation from 2011 to 2012, 
the inflation level rose to 11.4% in June 2013, primarily as a result of the increase in oil prices due 
to the government's reduced petroleum subsidies at the pump. 
2.4  Interest Rate Development 
2.16.  Generally, interest rate developments over the past six years were mixed. Following from 
the fiscal pressures occasioned by the global economic and financial crisis in 2007, the 91-day Treasury Bill rates were high in 2008, but trended downwards in 2010-mid 2011 due to prudent 
monetary and fiscal measures. Interest rates however trended upwards through mid-2013 as a 
result of fiscal pressures in 2012. The 91-day Treasury bill rate declined from 24.7% in 2008 to 22.9% at end 2012, but resumed a slightly upward trend in 2013. 
2.5  Exchange Rate Development 
2.17.  Ghana still maintains a flexible exchange rate regime even though the possible impact of 
any volatility in the foreign exchange market on inflation is carefully monitored. From 2012, the cedi has been under pressure in the light of the global imbalances and the softening of some of 
Ghana's commodity export prices. Over the period, the Ghana cedi moved from a depreciation 
of 4.8% against the U.S. dollar in 2007 to a de preciation of 17.5% on the interbank market 
in 2012. Depreciation of the cedi against the U.S. dollar then slowed down in the first half of 2013 
to 3.4%. 
2.6  External Sector Policy 2.18.  The global financial crises of 2007 and 2008 posed serious challenges to the country's 
external sector position. The country's external reserves dropped sharply to 1.8 months of import 
cover. However the adoption of effective monetary and fiscal measures resulted in an increase in 
external reserves to 2.9 months import cover in  2009. Since then a pick-up in petroleum and the 
industrial sector related imports have continued to exert pressure on the country's reserve 
position. However significant inflows of foreign direct investments and commencement of crude oil 
exports have enabled the country to sustain its reserve level which stood at 5.2 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to 3 months import cover, in 2012. But the reserve position continue to be threatened 
by softening commodity export prices, especially  gold and dwindling official inflows upon the 
accession of the country to the lower middle income status. 
2.7  External and Domestic Debt 2.19.  At the end of September, 2013, Ghana's external debt stood at US$10.79 billion, an 
increase from US$8.84 billion at the end of 2012. This constitutes 45.9% of public debt (24.6% 
of GDP). The increase in external debt stock is mainly accounted for by the disbursement of about US$750 million from the Eurobond proceeds in 2013 as well as drawings of about US$383.5 million 
from the China Development Bank (CDB) facility for infrastructural development programmes. The 
external debt as a percentage of GDP increased from 14.3% in December 2008 to 21.7% in December 2012.  WT/TPR/G/298 • Ghana 
 
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  Selected economic indicators 
  2007  2008    2009  2010 2011 2012  
Real GDP growth (%) 6.5  8.4    4.0      7.7 15.0 7.9  
Inflation            
Year-on-year 12.7  18.1    16      8.6 8.6 8.8  
Annual average  10.7 16.5    19.3      10.7 8.7 9.2 
Exchange rate (end-period transaction rates)            
GH¢/US$ 1.0 1.2    1.4      1.5 1.6 1.9 
GH¢/Pound Sterling 2.0  1.8    2.3      2.3 2.5 3.1  
GH¢/euro 1.4 1.7    2.0      2.0 2.1 2.5 
Commodity prices            
Cocoa (US$/tonne) 1,787.2  2,072.5  2,801.6   2,950.7 2,947.8  2,365.0  
Gold (US$/fine ounce) 686.5  864.0  968.9   1,133.2 1,569.4  1,678.8  
OIL, IPE Brent Crude (US$/barrel) 75.8 101.0  62.5   74.0 111.3    109.2  
External sector         
Exports of goods and services (US$'m) 6,004.0  7,119.9  7,609.4   9,437.4 12,785.4 3,513.0  
Imports of goods and services (US$'m) 10,064.7  10,268.5  10,989.4  13,925.3 15,958.4 7,760.4  
Current account balance (US$'m) -2,151.5  -3,526.5  -1,598.5   -2,700.5 -3,675.1  -4,921.6  
Overall balance of payments (US$'m) 413.1  -940.8  1,158.8  1,462.7 546.5 -1,210.9  
Terms of trade index 44.01  122.92  83.03  76.29 67.99     69.45  
Gross international reserves (e nd period, in US$'m) 2,836.7  2,036.2  3,164.8  4,724.9 5,382.8 5,349.0  
Months of imports of goods and services 2.7 1.8 2.9 3.7 3.2      3.0  
External debt (US$'m) 3,585.9  4,035.1  5,007.9  6,320.7 7,652.9 8,835.6  
Interest rates (%)            
Bank of Ghana prime rate 13.5  17.0 18.0 13.5 12.5    15.0  
91-day Treasury bill 10.6 24.7 23.7 12.3 10.3    22.9  
182-day Treasury bill 10.7  26.2 26.5 12.7 11.1    22.9  
1-year note 12.3 20.0 20.0 12.7 11.3    22.9  
2-year note 12.8  21.0 23.3 12.7 12.4    23.0  
Monetary aggregates growth (year-on-year)            
Reserve money 30.5  27.1 24.9 45.0 31.11 36.0  
Broad money (M2+) 35.9 40.2 24.7 33.8 33.2     24.3  
Broad money (M2) 43.5  31.2 18.5 44.8 30.2     22.9  
Nominal GDP (GH¢ million) 23,154.4  30,178.6  38,032.0  46,042.0 59,816   73,109  
Government budget (% of GDP)            
Domestic revenue 15.8 15.9 15.4 17.4   20.8     21.2  
Grants 3.7  2.7 3.0 2.4 2.1      1.6  
Total expenditure 24.3 26.5 22.4 26.0 23.8     28.6  
Overall balance (including grants) -4.9  -6.6 -5.6 -6.8 -4.3     -11.8  
  Domestic primary balance 3.7 -5.9 0.3 0.1 2.9 -1.6 
 
3  GHANA'S INTERNATIONAL TRADE RELATIONS  
3.1  The Multilateral Trading System 3.1.  Ghana is enthusiastic about the development-oriented outcomes that the Doha Round could 
achieve if negotiation builds momentum. The Doha Round has the potential to reverse the 
marginalization of some developing countries and least developed countries and help them to meet 
the Millennium Development Goals. A successful conclusion to the Doha Round and a reinvigorated multilateral trading system would deliver opportunities to all participants, including the smallest, 
weakest and most vulnerable economies. The development imperative remains crucial. 
Consequently, WTO members must take a dynamic approach to fulfilling it, bringing developing and least developed countries fully within reach of the new trading opportunities that can help 
them to alleviate poverty and put their econom ies on the path of sustainable growth and 
development. 
3.2.  Ghana's expectations from the on-going Doha Development Agenda remain as valid as they 
ever were, including the following: 
i. Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA): Curre ntly Ghana has bound only 1.2% of its 
industrial tariffs. This was done in the Uruguay Round. In the on-going round, Ghana is, therefore, categorized as a Paragraph 6 country for having bound less that 35% of 
its industrial tariffs. Ghana is prepared to increase its tariff binding to assure business 
people and investors of the stability, security, certainty and predictability of its business environment. Since Ghana depends heavily on customs duties as a source of 
government revenue for development, it would require some amount of policy space 
for revenue purposes and also to protect its infant industries for rapid industrialization and diversification of its industrial base. 
ii. Agriculture: In the Uruguay Round Ghana bound all its agricultural tariffs. About 99% 
of its agricultural tariffs were bound at a ceiling level of 99% effective 2004. Lower 
bound rates of 40% and 50% were set for a few agricultural products to apply WT/TPR/G/298 • Ghana 
 
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  from 1995. However, Ghana maintains a stan dard maximum applied rate of 20% on 
all agricultural products, with lower rates of  0%, 5%, or 10% applying to a quarter of 
these products. Ghana does not maintain any export subsidies nor does it maintain any trade-distorting domestic support. However, Ghana is not immune from the 
deleterious effects of export subsidies and trade-distorting domestic support of some 
WTO members. Against this backdrop, the elimination of export subsidies and substantial reduction in domestic support in the Doha Round are a priority to Ghana. 
Other areas of the agriculture negotiations of special interest to Ghana include the 
reduction or elimination of tariff peaks and tariff escalation on products of export interest to Ghana, the self-designation of Special Products by developing countries to be treated flexibly in the negotiations, and a Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) to 
deal with import surges. Preference erosion is also a matter of concern to Ghana. It is 
Ghana's expectation that negotiations on this issue would be concluded in a manner that would give true meaning to the negotiation as a development round. 
iii. Rules: As a country engaged in the negotiation of Free Trade Agreements with 
developed countries compatible with Article XXIV of GATT, 1994, Ghana has profound interest in the amendment of Article XXIV to introduce into it flexibilities in favour of 
developing countries concluding Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with developed 
countries. Ghana, therefore, urges the Grou p on Rules to seriously and expeditiously 
address proposal submitted by the ACP Group and others on Regional Trade 
Agreements. 
iv. Services: In the Uruguay Round negotiations on services Ghana made commitments 
in basic telecommunications services; financial services (banking and insurance); transport services (maritime transport); educational services (secondary and 
specialist); construction and related engineering services; and tourism and 
travel-related services.  
3.3.  These areas were carefully selected because of the desire of the Government to attract 
investments as well as technological innovations into the sectors to facilitate their development. 
The objective was to allow suppliers of these services to compete more effectively and lower costs to consumers as well as enable efficient development of the other sectors of the economy, which require those services as inputs.  
3.4.  Ghana has prepared its draft offers for the current negotiations in response to requests 
submitted by some WTO Members, but is yet to tabl e these offers. In preparing these offers, as in 
the past, consideration was given more to those services whose efficient delivery or supply could 
contribute to the efficient operation of other sectors of the economy. The offers are mostly 
improvements on the Uruguay Round offers, reflec ting the more liberalized environment. Ghana's 
primary objective in the services sector is to build and strengthen its domestic supply capacity, 
efficiency and competitiveness to enable it take better advantage of the market access 
opportunities in sectors and modes in which it has supply capacity. 
3.5.  Ghana expects its developed country partne rs to open up sectors and modes of supply of 
export interest to developing countries, particul arly mode 4. Developed country members' offers 
should take cognisance of Article IV paragraph 1 of GATS. In the negotiations Ghana seeks the 
maintenance of the architecture of the GATS intact . Ghana, like many other African countries, also 
favours the maintenance of the "positive list" "bottom up" approach, which enables it to select the 
sectors and sub-sectors and modes of supply of interest to it. 
3.2  Regional Integration 3.2.1  Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) 
3.6.  Ghana attaches great importance to region al economic cooperation and integration. Ghana 
actively participates in ECOWAS activities at all levels, including the Conference of Heads of State and Government, Council of Ministers, Senior Officials and the Community Parliament, among others.  WT/TPR/G/298 • Ghana 
 
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  3.7.  With regard to the implementation of  ECOWAS protocols, integration programmes and 
activities in the area of trade, Ghana has taken actions on the following:  
 Free Movement of Persons: Ghana has abolished entry visas and permits for ECOWAS 
nationals, adopted the ECOWAS travel certificate and implemented the ECOWAS 
Brown Card scheme.  
 Free Movement of Goods: In line with the harmonization of customs documents by 
ECOWAS Member States, Ghana has adopte d the ECOWAS certificate of origin, 
customs nomenclature (HS) and the customs declaration form. Ghana is charging the 
Community levy of 0.5% on imported goods from countries outside the region. Ghana is also fully implementing the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) under which unprocessed goods from the region ente r Ghana duty-free. However, industrial 
products must satisfy ECOWAS rules of origin and other certification conditions before 
being eligible for ETLS benefits.  
 Common External Tariff: As a step towards the conclusion of an ECOWAS customs 
union, and in pursuit of further regional integration, the ECOWAS countries are 
committed to the establishment of a Common External Tariff (CET). This aspires to harmonize the tariff structures of the Anglophone countries with that of the common 
external tariff currently upheld by the francophone UEMOA countries. The leaders 
of ECOWAS  States adopted a Common External Tariff (CET) for all fifteen Member 
States of the Community in November 2013. The ECOWAS CET is expected to be 
implemented after the ECOWAS Member States in the WTO have negotiated with 
other WTO members and have been given the green light.  
3.2.2  Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU 
3.8.  Until 31 December 2007, about 97% of the exports of the ACP countries, including Ghana, 
entered the European Union (EU) duty-free in ac cordance with the Cotonou preferential trade 
regime. The WTO waiver, under which the Cotonou regime was permitted, expired on 31 December 2007. To retain such duty-free access beyond this point Ghana, together with 
other West African (WA) countries (ECOWAS + Mauritania), has been negotiating a 
WTO-compatible Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU. Under the new regime, the 
WA region and the other five ACP regions negotiating EPAs with the EU are expected to also open their markets progressively in an asymmetrical manner to EU exports. This will be accompanied by 
EU-supported measures to accelerate West Africa 's integration processes, upgrade its industries 
and build its productive capacity and competitiveness. This is to enable West Africa to take full advantage of market access opportunities offered by the EU and to integrate into the global 
economy.  
3.9.  As a precautionary measure to safeguard duty-free market access to the EU against any 
possible delay to the implementation of the WA EPA, Ghana has initialled an interim EPA (iEPA). 
The iEPA retains the EPA principle of maintained  duty-free access to the EU in exchange for a 
gradual opening of the Ghanaian market, but fore goes the benefits of a harmonised regional 
agreement. At a meeting held on 6 February 2014, the West Africa Chief Negotiators and their EU counterparts found a compromise on the West Africa-European Union Economic Partnership 
Agreement (WA-EU EPA) by ironing out thorny issu es that had proven divisive after more than a 
decade of negotiations. The thorny or outstandin g issues relate to market access, development 
assistance, MFN clause, non-execution clause, agriculture subsidies, and rules of origin. Indications 
are that the WA-EU EPA would be signed by 1 June 2014. 
3.3  Bilateral Trade 3.10.  Ghana has signed bilateral agreements with  a number of countries with the objective of 
taking advantage of opportunities offered in key strategic markets, fostering business cooperation 
and technology transfer and encouraging Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). However, should the 
ECOWAS Customs Union come into existence these agreements would have to be submitted to the ECOWAS Commission for acceptance or rejection by the Union. WT/TPR/G/298 • Ghana 
 
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  3.11.  On Preferential Trade Arrangements,  Ghana benefits from the Generalized System of 
Preferences (GSP) offered by industrialized countries other than the EU and the United States of America. The United States offers a number of African countries, including Ghana, special access to its market under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Under AGOA over six 
thousand products from the beneficiary countries  enter the USA market duty-free and quota-free. 
Apparel made from U.S. fabric, yarn or thread also enters the U.S. market duty-free and quota-
free. Ghana is currently in the final stages of  negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with 
Turkey, the 4
th negotiation round of which concluded on 21 November 2013.  
4  GHANA'S SECTORAL POLICY FRAMEWORK 4.1  The Ghana Trade Policy and Trade Sector Support Programme 4.1.  The Ghana Trade Policy was launched in February 2005 and implementation started 
in January 2006. The Policy provided clear and tran sparent guidelines for the implementation of 
the Government's domestic and international trade agenda. The key objective was to ensure a consistent and stable policy environment within which the private sector and consumers can 
operate effectively and with certainty.  
4.2.  The policy prescriptions emanated from seven (7) thematic areas that formed the basis of the 
document. These thematic areas were: International Trade, Import-Export Regime; Trade 
Facilitation Enhancing Production Capacity; Domest ic Trade and Distribution; Consumer Protection 
and Fair Trade; and Intellectual Property Rights.  
4.3.  A five-year implementation blueprint of  the Trade Policy, the Trade Sector Support 
Programme (TSSP) was implemented between January 2006 and December 2010. The objectives 
of the TSSP were to increase Ghana's competitiveness in international and domestic markets and 
improve the legal and regulatory envi ronment for businesses and consumers. 
4.4.   The TSSP was made up of 27 distinct but interrelated projects, which were based on 
the 7 thematic areas of the Trade Policy. The pr ojects and activities which were implemented 
under the TSSP were intended to promote Ghana' s accelerated growth underpinned by two parallel 
strategies of an export-led industrialization grow th; and domestic market-oriented industrialization 
based on import competition. 
4.5.  An End-of-Term Evaluation of the TSSP conducted by an independent consulting firm 
indicated that about 70% of the programme's objectives were achieved despite some operational challenges that were encountered. The under-listed are some of the key achievements:  
 Ghana participated fully in multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations of institutions 
such as WTO, UNCTAD and ECOWAS. 
 A Tariff Advisory Board was established to advise the Minister for Trade and Industry 
on trade and trade-related issues. 
 Some Ministries, Departments and Agencies, border points and freight forwarders 
were connected to the Ghana Community Network System (GCNet) to improve their 
access to trade data and enhance their operations. The GCNet is an electronic data 
interchange and tradenet system designed to facilitate customs clearance process of export, import and transit trade. 
 Electronic tracking devices have been introduced on transit cargo and other customs 
suspense regimes to improve visibility and reduce physical human interventions and 
diversion of cargo. 
 Pack houses and cold chain facilities were constructed at some farm gates in the 
Central and Eastern Regions of Ghana and Ko toka International Airport (KIA) to help 
maintain the quality and increase the shelf life of horticultural and other perishable commodities for exports. WT/TPR/G/298 • Ghana 
 
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   The Ghana Standards Authority has been accredited to undertake product and system 
certification as well as certification of inspectors.  
 Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy has been developed and IPR laws of Ghana 
reviewed to encourage innovation and creativity particularly in the Creative and 
Manufacturing industries. 
 The Industrial Policy and the Industrial Sector Support Programme (ISSP), which are 
currently under implementation, were developed out of the TSSP. 
 The National Export Strategy and the National Export Development Programme were 
also developed out of the TSSP.  
4.6.  The implementation challenges of the TSSP identified included: 
 Lack of funding for some of the projects and activities for which reason they were not 
undertaken. 
 Delays in the procurement processes as a result of stringent guidelines in the 
Procurement Act 2003 (Act 663). 
 Limited or no control of activities not directly implemented by Ministry of Trade and 
Industry, the lead implementing institution. 
4.7.  It is worthy to note that some of the unc ompleted activities of the TSSP which were still 
relevant at the close of the programme such as the development of the Competition Policy and 
Law, the Consumer Protection Policy and Law,  the Intellectual Property Rights and the 
improvement in the National Quality Infrastructure have been rolled over into the ISSP for implementation. 
4.2  The New Ghana Industrial Policy 
4.8.  The New Industrial Policy, which was developed out of the TSSP, was launched in June 2011. 
The main objective of the Policy is to promote increased competitiveness and enhanced industrial 
production, with increased employment and prosperi t y  f o r  a l l .  I t  i s  a l s o  e x p e c t e d  t o  p r o v i d e  a  
broader range of fair-priced, better quality produc ts for the domestic and international markets. 
4.9.  The key development objectives of the Industrial Policy are: 
i. To expand productive employment in the manufacturing sector 
ii. To expand technological capacity in the manufacturing sector 
iii. To promote agro-based industrial development 
iv. To promote spatial distribution of industries in order to achieve reduction in poverty 
and income inequalities. 
4.10.  In this regard, the Industrial Policy repres ents the set of specific policy instruments and 
measures to be applied to improve access to competitive factors of production within the 
economy; and enhance productivity, efficiency and growth of Ghana's manufacturing sector. 
4.11.  The Industrial Policy has four main components with the following objectives: 
 Production and Distribution: To ensure that adequate local agro-based industrial raw 
materials, mineral deposits and competitively priced imported inputs are available for 
local manufacturing. 
 Technology and Innovation: To encourage the adoption and dissemination of modern 
technology in industry.  WT/TPR/G/298 • Ghana 
 
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   Incentives and Regulations: To create a conducive, transparent and predictable 
regulatory environment to attract the requisite investment into the industrial sector.  
 Crosscutting Issues: To encourage greater participation of the under-privileged, 
empowerment of women and a fight against communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS 
that hamper development in the sector.  
4.3  The Industrial Sector Support Programme (ISSP) 4.12.  The Industrial Sector Support Programme (ISSP) is the implementation arm of the 
Industrial Policy. The ISSP is made up of eighteen (18) carefully designed projects with detailed 
implementation plans with corresponding budge t, logical framework and the management and 
coordination responsibilities of key stakeholders. The ISSP is expected to be implemented over a 
five-year period: January 2012-December 2016. 
4.13.  The success of the Industrial  Policy and the ISSP would be measured by the extent to which 
they empower the manufacturing sector particularly Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to expand and create opportunities for employment as well as the reduction in poverty and spatial 
inequalities in Ghana. 
4.14.  In order to increase local content in the manufacturing sector, measures will be 
implemented to encourage increased private sector investment in commercial agriculture to 
expand the cultivation of selected agriculture raw materials for agro-industry. This will be 
complemented with measures to enhance produc tivity through improved agronomy, input supply 
and access to irrigation facilities.  
4.4  The National Export Strategy for Non-Traditional Exports (NTEs) 
4.15.  A National Export Strategy (NES) and its implementation arm, National Export Development 
Programme (NEDP) were launched on 16
th August, 2013. As mentioned earlier, the NES and the 
NEDP were developed out of the TSSP.  
4.16.  The overall objective of the Policy is to develop the potentials of the Non-Traditional Export 
(NTE) sector in order to achieve a strategic targ et of US$5.0 billion within five years (2014-2018) 
of its implementation from its current level of US$2.364 billion as a way of diversifying the 
economy for sustained revenue from export. 
5  TRADE-RELATED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE 5.1.  Ghana very much appreciates the technical assistance it has been receiving from the WTO 
under the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust F und. A number of trade officers have benefited 
from the Geneva-based and Region al Trade Policy courses as well as the national and regional 
workshops and seminars. The on-line courses have also been beneficial. These have contributed immensely to increased awareness and the underst anding of the WTO Agreements and, thus, the 
capacity building of officers. More trade-related technical assistance is still needed in the two 
priority areas of improving institutional capacity for trade policy negotiations and implementation; and supporting the reform of trade-re lated legislation and regulations. 
5.2.  It has also been observed that the kn owledge and understanding of the WTO Agreements 
and the acquisition of negotiating skills alone do not translate into enabling the developing countries overcome their supply-side constraints to be able to take advantage of the market access opportunities offered by the multilateral tr ading system. There is, therefore, the need to 
assist developing countries like Ghana without competitive supply capacity to address their 
supply-side constraints through, in particular, the Aid-for-Trade Initiative. In this respect, Ghana 
would like to appeal to its trading partners to also support its Industrial Sector Support Programme 
(TSSP) and the National Export Strategy for non-traditional exports. WT/TPR/G/298 • Ghana 
 
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  6  CONCLUSION 
6.1.  Ghana is committed to freer trade and economic reform. Ghana's oil boom has proven to be a 
great additive to one of Africa's most active sm all and medium enterprise (SME) economies. With 
the business environment improving in the country  and its reputation as one of the African 
continent's most stable democracies, Ghana is now more than ever before ready to do business 
with the rest of the world. Besides the improv ed economic environment, Ghana offers various 
forms of investment incentives, benefits and guarantees. Foreign investors are urged to take 
advantage of these incentives to invest in Ghana, especially in the areas of agriculture and 
agro-processing; cotton and textiles; mineral processing; oil and gas; tourism; energy; infrastructure; utilities; and health. 
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