Invest in non-traditional, services exports to boost forex — BoG Governor

Ghana must harness the untapped information technology, digital finance, education services, architecture and creative industries, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Johnson Asiama, has said.

With the right regulatory support and market access frameworks, he said those sectors could generate stable foreign exchange (forex), create high-quality jobs, and diversify the country’s revenue streams while reducing Ghana’s dependence on traditional exports such as cocoa, gold and oil.

“Beyond commodities, we must invest in non-traditional and services exports,” the Governor stated at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting in Accra last Tuesday.

The quarterly event, the second of four for the year, brought together stakeholders, including industry leaders, financial experts, policymakers and academics, to discuss the critical issue of sustaining forex gains and their impact on the country's economic development.

His comment comes at a time when Ghana’s economy is experiencing critical structural reforms aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability.

Experts over the years have stressed that Ghana’s over-reliance on primary commodities has exposed the country to external shocks such as unstable global prices and currency depreciation.

Recent data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) showed that the Services remained the economy’s largest sector in the first quarter of 2025, contributing 46.8 per cent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at basic prices, yet the contribution of high-value knowledge sectors within this category remains relatively small.
 

Forex stability

Dr Asiama­­ said while the cedi’s resurgence was commendable, it must not lull the country into complacency.

He indicated that sustaining forex gains was a far more complex task than achieving them.

“It requires anticipating headwinds, managing contradictions, and addressing deeply embedded structural challenges. It is not enough to stabilise the Cedi.

The real measure of success is whether we can translate forex stability into broad-based economic transformation; one that empowers businesses, creates jobs and lifts the productive capacity of the nation,” he stated.

With cocoa, for instance, he said it was time to scale value-added processing, branding and retail export chains.

For gold, the Governor said the country must accelerate efforts towards in-country refining and bullion storage, adding that “in oil and gas, investment in a petrochemical industry is now imperative.” 
 

Reinvesting locally

Dr Asiama further emphasised that strengthening the local economy required more than stabilising the currency, noting that despite a 42 per cent year-on-year appreciation of the cedi in 2025, Ghana remained vulnerable due to limited reinvestment of export revenues.

He explained that many exporters reportedly held their earnings offshore, limiting the productive use of foreign exchange within the country, a behaviour that weakened the financial ecosystem and undermined long-term growth prospects.

To address this challenge, Dr Asiama proposed tax incentives, preferential credit access and public procurement privileges for exporters who reinvest locally.
 

Domestic infrastructure

An Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Ghana Business School, Agyapomaa Gyeke-Dako, commended the central bank’s efforts at monetary stabilisation. However, she emphasised the need for coordinated government action to address inflation and supply chain bottlenecks that put pressure on the currency.

She advocated reforms aimed at improving domestic infrastructure and addressing inefficiencies in the agricultural value chain, particularly the disparity between farmgate prices and market prices.

“If we are serious about inflation control, we must deal with the power that market queens wield and reintroduce competition mechanisms, such as state-led food distribution companies, to ensure affordable prices in urban markets,” she stated.

Prof. Gyeke-Darko further highlighted the need to change the way importers accessed foreign exchange.

She explained that the overly stringent bank procedures pushed many traders to the black market, fuelling unofficial forex trading and tax evasion.

“There must be a balance between enforcing tax compliance and ensuring that genuine importers are not burdened with unrealistic documentation demands.

If we fail to do this, we’ll keep losing revenue and undermining the formal forex market,” she said.

To boost long-term economic resilience, she urged policymakers to expand access to affordable financing for businesses, improve agricultural productivity through education and mechanisation, and introduce guaranteed pricing for food crops, just as is done for cash crops like cocoa.

“If we want to diversify our economy, we must support food crop farmers in the same way we support cocoa farmers.

Price guarantees will provide stability, encourage youth participation in agriculture and reduce rural poverty,” Prof. Gyeke-Darko added.