The numbers, for once, are encouraging.
After two years of sharp decline, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into Ghana jumped to $2.62 billion in 2025, up from $649.58 million in 2023 and $617.61 million in 2024.
The figures contained in the 2025 Annual Investment Report, for the first time, present a coordinated picture of investment activity, and the picture is promising.
The $2.62 billion came from 254 registered projects which, when fully operational, are expected to generate 18,748 jobs.
Of those jobs, 16,928, or 90.3 per cent, will go to Ghanaians.
Beyond the actual inflows, the country also tracked about $11.48 billion in announced pipeline investments for 2025, covering manufacturing, energy, technology, agriculture, tourism and infrastructure.
In short, investor interest is back.
The question now is: will it make a real difference in the lives of Ghanaians?
What changed?
The report explains the drivers of the rebound.
For years, the FDI figures captured only a slice of investment.
The expansion of coverage to include data from the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA), Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA) and the Petroleum Commission has given us a fuller picture.
Of the total, GIPA registered 181 new projects worth $1.44 billion, existing companies added $269.06 million, the Petroleum Commission’s 18 existing upstream companies attracted $739.98 million, and GFZA recorded $176.58 million from 42 new capital investments.
Crucially, on a balance of payments basis, net FDI inflows stood at $1.91 billion, with a remarkable 95.4 per cent coming from reinvested earnings.
There is a breath of fresh air to this development. Foreign investors are not only bringing new capital into the country but are also expanding their existing operations.
That is the strongest vote of confidence. New investors test the water; old investors who reinvest have decided to stay.
The upstream story is equally important. Upstream petroleum investment reached $870 million in 2025, about 20 per cent growth over the previous year after more than six years of sluggish growth.
A $2 billion commitment by Jubilee and TEN partners is expected to sustain oil production, increase gas output, cut Jubilee gas price by about 18 per cent, and save the country an estimated $300 million. Another $1.5 billion commitment by Offshore Cape Three Points partners will support gas exports and discoveries.
This signals renewed confidence in the country’s energy future at a time when many frontier markets are struggling to attract oil and gas capital.
The sectoral distribution tells its own story.
Manufacturing emerged as the most active sector by the number of projects — 99 —, followed by services with 43, and general trading with 20.
This is exactly the shift Ghana needs.
For too long, we have attracted investment that digs and ships.
We now need investment that builds and adds value.
Manufacturing leading the project count reaffirms the country’s ambition to become a regional industrial and production hub.
The Daily Graphic agrees that FDI is not a scoreboard.
It is a means to an end.
Some interventions must happen to translate this rebound into transformation.
We must prioritise local content and linkages.
These foreign businesses must partner Ghanaian businesses, use local inputs and develop the skills of young people, as the Minister urged.
The fact that 90 per cent of expected jobs will go to Ghanaians is good. But we must go beyond jobs to supplier contracts, technology transfer and skills training.
Again, the government’s focus on agribusiness, textiles and garments, pharmaceuticals, and automotive and component manufacturing is correct.
These are sectors where FDI can cut our import bill, create export earnings, and absorb labour.
The $11.48 billion pipeline must be deliberately steered towards these productive sectors, not just speculative real estate and trading.
It’s important to state that investors are coming back because they see stability returning.
That stability must be protected.
The projection of $3.11 billion in 2027 and $2.38 billion in 2028, an election year, is a warning.
Election-year slippage has historically derailed the investment climate. We must not repeat that mistake.
The 2025 investment numbers are more than data.
They are a sign that Ghana is back on the investor map after a difficult period. But the real headline is not $2.62 billion.
The real headline is what that money will do.
If it builds factories that employ our youth, if it strengthens farms that feed us, if it brings technology that upgrades our firms, and if it generates revenue that funds schools and hospitals, then the rebound will have been worth celebrating. If it does not, it will just be another statistical jump.
