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Everything you need to know about Ghana’s new investment law that replaces the GIPC Act, 2013 (Act 865) — minimum capital rules, reserved activities, registration, tax incentives, expatriate quotas, work permits and technology transfer agreements.
What is the GIPA Act, 2026?
On 15 July 2026, the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana passed and the President assented to the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority Act, 2026 (Act 1173) — widely referred to as the GIPA Act. The new law repeals the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act, 2013 (Act 865) and transforms the former Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) into the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA), a body corporate with an expanded mandate to encourage, promote, facilitate and regulate investments into, within and — for the first time — out of Ghana.
This is the most significant overhaul of Ghana’s investment framework in over a decade. It cuts the minimum capital for foreign participation in trading, restructures expatriate quotas, introduces a statutory investor grievance mechanism, mandates a citizenship-by-investment framework, tightens the rules on technology transfer agreements, and positions the Authority as Ghana’s National Focal Point under the AfCFTA Protocol on Investment.
GIPA Act 2026 at a glance
|
Item |
Detail |
|---|---|
|
Full name |
Ghana Investment Promotion Authority Act, 2026 (Act 1173) |
|
Date of assent / Gazette |
15 July 2026 |
|
Repeals |
Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act, 2013 (Act 865) |
|
Savings |
All applications pending before the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre established under the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act, 2013 (Act 865) are deemed to be pending before the Authority established under this Act |
|
Regulator |
Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA) — formerly GIPC |
|
Applies to |
All enterprises in Ghana (s.1), incl. external companies and branches |
|
Minimum capital — trading (foreign) |
US$500,000 cash equity + at least 75% skilled Ghanaian employees (s.31) |
|
Minimum capital — non-trading (foreign) |
No general statutory minimum stated in the Act (see FAQ 8) |
|
Reserved activities |
6 categories reserved for Ghanaians (s.32) |
|
Registration timeline |
5 days from complete application (s.34) |
|
Renewal of GIPC Registration |
Previously every 2 years, but new law makes it annual renewal |
|
Expatriate quotas |
2 to 12 persons, scaled to invested capital of US$50,000 – US$10m+ (s.49); valid 5 years |
|
Technology transfer agreements |
Must be registered; unregistered TTAs are not legally enforceable (s.52) |
|
New Provisions |
Investor grievance mechanism, citizenship by investment, strategic investment incentives, outward investment, AfCFTA focal point |
Old GIPC Act vs New GIPA Act: What Has Changed?
The table below compares the repealed GIPC Act, 2013 (Act 865) with the new GIPA Act, 2026 (Act 1173) and highlights what has changed for investors.
|
Area |
GIPC Act, 2013 (Act 865) — OLD |
GIPA Act, 2026 (Act 1173) — NEW |
What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Institution |
Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) |
Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA), with stronger regulatory powers |
Rebrand and upgrade from promotion agency to promotion-and-regulation authority |
|
Object |
Focused on creating an enabling investment environment and encouraging investment into Ghana |
Includes regulation of investment, promotion of outward investment by Ghanaian enterprises and regulation of technology transfer agreements |
The Authority’s mandate becomes broader and more strategic |
|
Joint venture minimum capital |
US$200,000 with a Ghanaian partner holding at least 10% equity |
No general minimum capital prescribed for non-trading joint ventures |
This lowers the entry barrier for foreign–Ghanaian JVs |
|
Wholly foreign-owned (non-trading) |
US$500,000 minimum foreign capital |
No general minimum capital prescribed for non-trading enterprises |
Significant easing for services, manufacturing, tech and other non-trading sectors |
|
Trading enterprises (foreign) |
US$1,000,000 minimum capital (cash or goods accepted), at least 20 skilled Ghanaian employees |
US$500,000 cash equity and at least 75% of employees must be skilled Ghanaians (s.31) |
Capital halved and now goods imported no longer accepted as equity; headcount rule replaced with a percentage-based local employment test |
|
Reserved activities list |
9+ items incl. lotteries, pool betting and printing of recharge scratch cards |
Streamlined 6-item list (s.32); betting/lotteries and scratch cards removed from this Act |
Shorter list; gaming now governed by sector law rather than the investment Act |
|
Registration renewal |
Renewable registration (in practice every two years) |
Mandatory annual renewal for all registered enterprises (ss.34–35), backed by administrative penalties |
Compliance burden increases; benefits and incentives are lost if renewal lapses |
|
Expatriate quotas |
1 to 4 automatic quotas (capital of US$50,000 to US$700,000+) |
2 to 12 quotas scaled from US$50,000 to above US$10m (s.49); each grant valid for 5 years, renewable |
More generous and more predictable expatriate staffing for larger investors |
|
Work permits |
Applied via GIPC/GIS practice |
Statutory route through the Authority with a 5-day recommendation timeline to the Immigration Service (s.50) |
Faster, clearer process anchored in the Act itself |
|
Technology transfer agreements |
Registration required under Act 865 and L.I. 1547 |
Registration required; unregistered TTAs are not legally enforceable, fees are not tax-deductible, and banks cannot remit fees without a GIPA certificate (s.52) |
Materially higher stakes for franchises, management and licensing agreements |
|
Tax incentives |
Listed incentives under Act 865 and tax laws |
Industry-specific incentives by legislative instrument (s.37) + Cabinet-determined strategic investment incentives (s.38), aligned with the Exemptions Act, 2022 (Act 1083) |
More targeted, programme-based incentive regime |
|
Citizenship by investment |
Not provided |
Ministry of the Interior mandated to enact citizenship-by-investment legislation (s.39) |
Ghana formally signals a future Citizenship by Investment programme |
|
Investor grievances |
No formal statutory mechanism |
Statutory investor grievance mechanism with fixed timelines (s.43) |
A free administrative route before litigation or arbitration |
|
Dispute resolution |
Arbitration options (incl. UNCITRAL framework) |
Amicable settlement first; default to mediation under the ADR Act, 2010 (Act 798) where parties disagree (s.44) |
Softer default pathway; arbitration still available by agreement |
|
Labour and Immigration |
Addressed labour, expatriate quotas and assistance to enterprises |
Adds dedicated provisions on work permits alongside expatriate quotas |
The framework for employing expatriates becomes more detailed |
|
Anti-fronting |
Offence-based provisions |
“Front” expressly defined; wholly Ghanaian enterprises with any non-Ghanaian beneficial owner or director must meet the s.31 minimum capital (s.35(3)) |
Beneficial-ownership test closes the classic fronting loophole |
|
Outward investment / AfCFTA |
Not covered |
GIPA mandated to promote outward investment by Ghanaian enterprises and to act as Ghana’s AfCFTA Investment Protocol National Focal Point (s.4) |
Ghanaian companies expanding abroad now have a statutory champion |
|
Enforcement |
Primarily criminal offences |
Dual regime: criminal offences (s.55) plus administrative penalties (s.56) incl. 7,000 penalty units for failure to renew registration |
Faster, administrative enforcement without going to court |
Part 1 — General & Transitional Questions
1. Is the GIPC Act still in force in Ghana in 2026?
No. The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act, 2013 (Act 865) was repealed on 15 July 2026 by section 60(1) of the GIPA Act, 2026 (Act 1173). All references to “the GIPC law” now mean the GIPA Act. However, offences committed, penalties imposed and proceedings commenced before that date are still handled under the old Act (s.60(3)).
2. Does my existing GIPC registration remain valid under the new GIPA Act?
Yes. Under the transitional provisions (s.60(2) and s.60(6)), an enterprise or joint venture registered under Act 865 continues in force as if registered under the new Act. You do not need to re-register from scratch — but you must now comply with the new annual renewal requirement (see FAQ 17). Better still, s.60(5) preserves the benefits and incentives you enjoyed before commencement, in addition to any new benefits under Act 1173.
3. What happens to applications that were pending at GIPC when the law changed?
They carry over automatically. Section 60(4) deems any application pending before the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre to be pending before the new Authority. No re-filing is required.
4. Do existing expatriate quotas, work permits and technology transfer agreements survive the repeal?
Yes. An expatriate quota or work permit in existence immediately before commencement continues in force until it expires or is renewed under the new Act (s.60(7)). A technology transfer agreement registered with GIPC is deemed registered with GIPA (s.60(9)), and the Technology Transfer Regulations, 1992 (L.I. 1547) are expressly saved (s.60(8)).
5. What is the difference between GIPC and GIPA?
GIPC (the Centre) was primarily a promotion and facilitation agency. GIPA (the Authority) keeps those functions but adds explicit regulatory teeth: monitoring powers with premises access (s.46), administrative penalties (s.56), a national investment registry, an investor grievance mechanism (s.43), promotion of outward investment by Ghanaian companies, and the role of Ghana’s National Focal Point under the AfCFTA Protocol on Investment (s.4(p)). GIPA also acts as a statutory one-stop shop for investment facilitation (s.4(m)).
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