In a major move to correct the historical skew of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) towards southern Ghana, the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA) has unveiled a comprehensive package of aggressive tax holidays and multi-million-dollar investment projects for the Upper West Region.
The pitches were made during the Upper West Regional Investment Forum, an initiative designed to transform the region’s raw agricultural and natural resources into high-value commercial enterprises.
Upper West Regional Minister Charles Lwanga Puozuing challenged local stakeholders and assemblies to move beyond merely describing the region’s wealth to demonstrating what can be produced.
“Potential alone does not create prosperity. Resources must be developed, ideas must become viable businesses, and opportunities must be supported by infrastructure, financing, access to markets, and responsive public institutions,” Puozuing stated, noting that investors need reliable data, viable project proposals, and regulatory clarity before committing capital.
Representing the Speaker of Parliament and the Upper West Parliamentary Caucus, Lawra Member of Parliament Bede Anwataazumo Ziedeng echoed this urgency, warning that the region must actively package and market its opportunities to remain competitive.
“Currently, investment is the way forward. So if other regions are attracting investment into their regions and Upper West we fail to do so, then we will end up being the losers,” Mr. Ziedeng noted, highlighting specific potential in the shea industry, cereals, and groundnuts.
To attract this much-needed capital, GIPA Principal Promotions Officer Yussif Mustapha announced highly competitive tax incentives tailored for the northern zone. Agro-processing businesses setting up in the Upper West Region will pay just a 1% corporate tax rate for their first five years, and only 5% subsequently.
“When you look at historical data of FDI flowing into Ghana, you realize that the flow is skewed towards the south, nothing comes to the northern part of Ghana,” Mustapha explained, adding that this structured tax relief is a “huge incentive for investment”.
Mustapha outlined several costed, bankable projects ready for immediate global investment, including a $20 million Industrial Park, a $15 million Renewable Energy solar facility, a $5 million Commercial Crop and Livestock Program, and targeted agro-processing plants for cashew, groundnut, and shea.
Complementing GIPA’s efforts, Kumasi Regional Manager for the Ghana Free Zones Authority (GFZA), Samad Akalilu, pitched the Free Zones program to investors focused strictly on exports. Companies exporting at least 70% of their production will enjoy a 10-year total corporate tax holiday and a 100% exemption from import duties on raw materials and machinery.
“We also have what we call a one stop shop… so you just walk to us… you don’t have to be walking around struggling to get those services done” Akalilu stated, emphasizing that the GFZA has no minimum capital requirements and manages inter-agency compliance, including visas and environmental permits.
A promotional documentary showcased at the forum framed the region as a strategic commercial gateway to the wider Sahel, highlighting opportunities beyond traditional agriculture. Because of the region’s heavy reliance on two-wheel transportation, there is a unique opportunity to transition from petrol to electric motorcycles, creating an entirely new mobility value chain.
Addressing the role of youth in this economic transformation, Lecturer and Director for Career Guidance at UBIDS, Prof. Felicia Natu, urged authorities to actively involve students from local technical schools and institutes.
She noted that these institutions have the capacity to produce tangible goods, such as furniture and building materials, and advocated for regional competitions among technical schools to drive innovation and entrepreneurship using available local resources.