Ghana · Business & founder
GIPC Investor Registration and Expatriate Quota (Act 865)
Time-sensitive. The GIPA Bill 2026 passed Parliament on 2 April 2026 and repeals Act 865 on assent — which had not occurred as of 15 July 2026. The Bill abolishes the USD 200,000 and USD 500,000 minimums for most sectors, drops trading to USD 500,000 but tightens localisation to at least 75% skilled Ghanaians, and expands automatic quotas to 12. Clients contemplating a USD 500k structure purely to satisfy Act 865 should wait for assent.
The GIPC thresholds are the only codified investment numbers in Ghana, and they are about to be repealed. For anyone structuring now, the assent date of the GIPA Bill 2026 is the single most important variable — committing USD 500k to satisfy a soon-to-be-abolished minimum would be an expensive error.
Qualifying routes
Act 865 s.28 — to be abolished by the GIPA Bill 2026 on assent
Act 865 s.28 — to be abolished for most sectors by the GIPA Bill 2026
plus at least 20 skilled Ghanaians; the GIPA Bill 2026 drops this to USD 500,000 but requires at least 75% skilled Ghanaians
The facts
- Minimum investment
- $200k
- Total landed cost
- USD 200k-1m of capital depending on structure, plus GIPC registration and immigration costs. Automatic expatriate quota under s.35 scales with investment: USD 50k-250k gives 1 quota place, 250k-500k gives 2, 500k-700k gives 3, above 700k gives 4.
- Timeline
- 3–12 months — GIPC registration then immigration quota; no dependable standard
- Physical presence
- Business-based
- Family
- dependants via the expatriate quota
- Permanent residency
- Indefinite Residence under Act 573 s.15 requires 12 months' continuous residence plus 5 years' aggregate in the preceding 7
- Citizenship
- Naturalisation under Act 591 s.14 — 12 months continuous plus 5 years in 7, plus an indigenous Ghanaian language
- Language test
- an indigenous Ghanaian language — non-waivable
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- GIPC registrationsector-appropriate minimum capital (pending repeal)skilled Ghanaian employment ratiosimmigration quota places
- The GIPA Bill 2026 passed Parliament on 2 April 2026 and repeals Act 865 on assent. Check assent status before advising — the thresholds you are structuring around may already be gone.
- Transition provisions for existing registrants under the GIPA Bill could not be established.
- Indefinite Residence carries a severe trap: section 15(3) of Act 573 means absence exceeding 12 consecutive months causes automatic loss of status, and reinstatement requires a fresh application. This is lethal for a globally mobile family.
- Ghana taxes residents on worldwide income to 35%, and taxes citizens as residents by default.
- The capital gains position is unclear: individuals may elect a flat 25% or be taxed at marginal rates to 35%. The 15% figure circulating widely could not be reconciled with the law — do not quote it.
- The GHS 18,000 Indefinite Residence fee rendered on the immigration service site is implausible against all other line items, and the March 2026 revised schedule is a scanned PDF with no text layer. Which effective date governs (15 May 2025 or 2 March 2026) could not be established.