Key statistics:
The coastal country of Ghana spans diverse habitats that range from coastal savannas to tropical rain forests and with approximately 32 million people, Ghana is the second most populous country in West Africa.
Ghana is classified as a lower middle-income country and, for the last two decades, has maintained one of the freest and most stable governments on the continent, performing relatively well in terms of economic growth and human development. The median age of the population is young at 21.5 years and just under half of Ghanaians live in rural areas.
Ghana's economy is projected to remain relatively strong over the medium-term, supported by higher prices for key exports – for example cocoa (Ghana is the second biggest producer and exporter of cocoa in the world), oil and gold – and strong domestic demand. The country has a projected GDP growth of 5.3% and 5.1% in 2022 and 2023 respectively supported by the Ghana COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalization of Enterprises Support Programme.
Good progress has been made in poverty reduction and Ghana was the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve the Millennium Development Goal I – the target for which was to halve extreme poverty. There have also been some encouraging improvements in the health delivery system as well as socio-economic infrastructure.
The services sector is the largest contributor to Ghana's GDP – comprising approximately half of GDP in 2021. The industrial sector is the second largest contributor to GDP at 30% followed by the agricultural sector at 21% which plays a key role in the economy given its contribution to food security and the population’s livelihoods, especially for poorer communities. The country’s unemployment rate was 4.7% in 2021.
Climate change impacts
The impacts of climate change – stemming from erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, drought, floods, a rising sea level, and tidal waves – affect the economy because of its dependence on climate sensitive-sectors such as agriculture, energy, and forestry. In 2020, the Government of Ghana launched an initiative to develop a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) in efforts to build nationwide resilience to climate change impacts. The project is the first of its kind in Ghana to use future climate projections to plan over large timescales, up to the year 2080.
In June 2022, the Ghana Ministry of Finance, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the German Government, and the Insurance Development Forum (IDF), announced the launch of a Tripartite project to develop a sovereign risk transfer scheme for urban floods in Ghana, alongside long-term investments in the country’s capacity to leverage and integrate insurance and risk financing into their development strategies.
Risk transfer solutions
According to a 2021 survey conducted by the UN Development Programme, around 70% of Ghanaians do not have access to insurance of any kind, and many of the products available in the market do not respond to the needs of the population.
That said, the uptake of inclusive insurance has been growing steadily in recent years due to the consistent efforts and coordination by national and international stakeholders. In addition, the Ghanaian authorities have worked hard to overhaul insurance-related legislation through the enactment of the new Insurance Act last year, which aims to modernise the sector and increase penetration. Much depends on the rollout of reforms implemented in recent years, as well as the sector’s ability to adapt to the specific needs of the population.
Ghana is one of the 21 focus countries identified by the Insurance Development Forum’s (IDF) Inclusive Insurance Working Group (IIWG) - the aim of which is to contribute to the inclusive growth of emerging economies and to the resilience of their vulnerable communities by developing tailored risk transfer solutions.
In May 2022, in partnership with the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), the Microinsurance Network organised a workshop during which representatives of the insurance industry met to discuss the results of the 2021 Landscape Study and the implications of the new Insurance Act on microinsurance uptake in Ghana. Further details of the key takeaways from the workshop as well as valuable insights from the in-country Landscape data can be found in our country report here.
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