Half-year economic report indicates Ghana’s trade balance recorded a provisional surplus of US$1.81 billion in the first half of the year, higher than the surplus of US$1.60 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.
According to the Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Report, the improved trade surplus, the central bank explained, resulted from a higher increase in exports relative to imports.
Total exports increased by US$1.09 billion (13.4%) to US$9.23 billion, mainly on the back of strong growth in gold and crude oil exports.
The value of gold exports increased by 46.4 percent to US$5.04 billion, driven by both volume and price increases.
The volume of gold exports increased by 28.9 percent to 2.4 million ounces, driven largely by higher output from small-scale mining, while realised prices of gold increased by 13.6 percent to US$2,094.5 per fine ounce.
The report noted that earnings from crude oil exports reached US$1.98 billion, from US$1.66 billion in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, receipts from cocoa exports, both beans and products, declined by 47.4 percent, from US$1.454 billion in the first half of 2023 to US$760 million in the first half of 2024.
“The sharp drop in the value of cocoa exports reflected the challenges in the cocoa sector, including extreme weather conditions, diseases and smuggling,” explained the report.
It said the value of “other exports” (including non-traditional exports) went down by 8.7 percent to US$1.5 billion.
The total imports bill rose by 13.5 percent to US$7.42 billion in the first half of the year, driven by both oil and nonoil imports.
Oil imports increased by 6.1 per cent to US$2.30 billion, with non-oil imports increasing by 17.2 percent to US$5.12 billion.
Total trade volume between Ghana and the European Union reached €6.0 billion in 2023, the Ministry of Trade and Industry have indicated.
This reflected Ghana’s net exports to the EU €2.6 billion while import from the EU to Ghana recorded €3.3 billion.
The data further indicatesld that, Ghana’s export saw a notable increase of 8 percent in 2023, rising to €2.6 billion from €2.4 billion the previous year. Contrary, imports from the EU to Ghana fell from €3.7 billion in 2022 to €3.3 billion in 2023.
“2023 export from Ghana saw an 8 percent increase, rising from some 2.4 billion euros to 2.6 billion euros, while import from the opposite direction experienced, unfortunately, some 11 percent decline, 3.7 billion euros to 3.3 billion euros,” Minister for Trade and Industry KT Hammond reassured investors of Ghana’s favourable investment climate while speaking at the 2nd Ghana-EU Business Forum.
The forum, themed “Fostering Investment in Non-Traditional Chains Under EU Global Gateways Strategy,” aimed to strengthen trade and investment ties between Ghana and the EU.
Deputy Director-General of the European Commission, Directorate-General for International Partnerships, Myriam Ferran, highlighted the EU’s dedication to bolstering trade and investment relations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“This strategy is definitely the strategy of the European Union to engage with like-minded partners in building sustainable infrastructure and connectivity around the world, and this is the EU’s offer for sustainable bonds in full partnership.
“This is extremely important for us because in the everyday more challenged world in which we live, not to speak about the geopolitical consequences of the Russia-Ukraine war or what’s happening in Gaza,” the Deputy Director-General of the European Commission noted.
During the forum, the European Union launched a 32 million euro Special Measure on Manufacturing and Access to Vaccines, Medicines, and Health Technologies in Africa (MAV+).
This initiative aims to support the development of vaccine manufacturing and the pharmaceutical industry in Ghana.
Ghana is a member of the African Union as well as of other major international bodies. It is a longstanding member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), a founding country of the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and an early supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), signed in 2018. The Secretariat of the AfCFTA is based in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
Ghana is becoming increasingly engaged in international trade. Over the last 20 years, Ghana’s international trade has significantly increased. Hence, while in 2002 the country’s total value of exports and imports were US$4.9 billion, it reached US$32.4 billion by 2022. In parallel, while Ghana’s balance of trade during the period 1990-2010 was dominated by imports, the last years (2017-2022) have shown a balance of trade surplus (US$6.71 billion in 2022) driven by a boost in exports of crude oil, gold and cocoa beans. However, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows to Ghana have somewhat stagnated in the last ten years (below $3 billion per year).
Since 2016, Ghana is implementing an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU. The EU-Ghana EPA is a trade and development agreement under which Ghanaian exporters benefit from duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market. Equally, under the EPA, Ghana has agreed to open gradually (from 2021 till 2029) its market to around 80% of EU products, which will increase the country’s competitiveness in the regional markets. Products that are sensitive in Ghana are excluded from liberalisation. Additionally, the EU is providing Ghana with development cooperation and financial adjustment support to help with the implementation of the iEPA. In addition, the EU is providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Trade and Investment for managing all obligations from the Agreement.
The EU continues to be one of the most important trade partners for Ghana. Value of exports/imports with the EU In 2022, the EU was Ghana’s largest source of imports, accounting for 17.4% of Ghana’s imports, ahead of China at 16.8 % and the USA at 11.5 % and the fourth-largest export destination, accounting for 11.3% of Ghana’s export (behind China (23.3%), Switzerland (18.7%) and South Africa (15.7%)). Overall, the EU is accounting for around 13.9% of Ghana’s total external trade in 2022, being the second most important partner after China (20.5%).
