Catalysing Growth in Ghana’s Services Sector to Drive Economic Transformation
2025
Context
The global services sector is expanding rapidly, valued at $17.5 trillion in 2025 and growing at 9% annually. In 2024 alone, services contributed nearly $700 billion, around 60%, to global trade growth. In Africa, the sector has been a core engine of economic transformation, accounting for more than half of the continent’s GDP and employment growth over the past two decades, generating an estimated 109 million new jobs.
Ghana exemplifies this trend. Services contribute 47% of its GDP and employ 42% of the workforce, making the sector central to its economic fabric. The Government of Ghana has outlined an ambitious strategy to develop a 24-hour economy, aiming to unlock an additional $7–11 billion in economic value and create over 143,000 jobs. This presents a clear opportunity for UK engagement, leveraging UK strengths in service sectors such as finance, education, health, and climate-aligned tech and ultimately offering a pathway to deepen trade and investment ties with Ghana while driving inclusive and sustainable growth.
Value Potential
£38M
in advanced commercial discussions
Targeted Support
100+
pipeline of businesses, with 8 prioritised for targeted support
Investors Engaged
25+
investors engaged and actively reviewing opportunities
Growth Gateway supported in landscaping Ghana’s services sector and identifying £150M in investment opportunities across 3 sub-sectors: Fintech, Ecommerce, and AgriTech. The effort has focused on accelerating investment and addressing Market Access Barriers in collaboration with the Government of Ghana.
Support Provided
Provided investment acceleration for 8 high-potential businesses
8 high-potential businesses received tailored investment readiness support from a pipeline of over 100 businesses from Fintech, E-commerce and Agri-tech services subsectors. Support included:
- Pitch material development and refinement
- Market analysis and strategy refinement
- Investor engagement coaching
Engaged 40+ local, regional and UK investors
Out of 42 UK and local investors engaged, 17 investors confirmed interest in supported businesses, with 3 additional insights from engagements:
- Ensure central database of material to streamline support across common gaps
- Partner with local incubators to enhance investment readiness support
- Extend support timelines to reflect longer fundraising cycles in Africa
Facilitated working sessions to discuss Market Access Barriers
Developed actions to address Ghana’s Market Access Barriers through working sessions with the Government of Ghana and HMG stakeholders:
- Appoint clear sponsor to align mandates and coordinate actors across Ghana’s services sector
- Reinforce a unified case across government, regulators, and private sector to mobilise support
- Provide targeted capability building to strengthen ministries’ delivery capacity
- Ensure sharp prioritisation and sequencing across ministries to avoid duplicated effort
- Establish targeted incentives and regulations to crowd in private investment
Impact Achieved
£35M+
total potential funding in advanced commercial discussions
17 investors
investors in advanced engagement to initiate commercial discussions
8
Next steps to address MABs, to be led by Government of Ghana
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