The American Chamber of Commerce Ghana’s Legal, Policy and Governance Committee convened on 23 June 2026 at the AmCham Ghana Secretariat, bringing together legal practitioners, policy experts, business leaders, and government affairs professionals to examine the regulatory and legislative developments most relevant to Ghana’s business environment. The meeting was chaired by Augustine Kidisil, Managing Partner at Templars Ghana, one of Ghana’s leading commercial law firms, whose leadership brought a sharp legal and policy lens to the discussions. The session took place at a moment when Ghana’s legislative calendar is particularly active, with several consequential bills moving through the pipeline across digital governance, labour regulation, investment policy, and trade facilitation. The committee reaffirmed its commitment to serving as a credible and proactive voice for the private sector, with members agreeing that effective advocacy means engaging policymakers early in the legislative process rather than responding after decisions have already been made.

A significant portion of the discussion focused on Ghana’s emerging digital policy landscape, particularly proposed legislation governing artificial intelligence, data transfers, and emerging technologies more broadly. Members expressed concern that overlapping regulatory mandates and multiple approval requirements across institutions could increase compliance costs and create the kind of uncertainty that discourages technology-driven investment, sitting in direct tension with Ghana’s ambition to become a regional innovation hub. The committee also discussed labour regulation reforms, stressing that any new legislative framework must reflect the realities of modern business practices, including evolving workforce models and the growing role of digital and remote work arrangements. In both areas, members identified the need to obtain and review draft bills early so that the private sector’s experience and concerns can be incorporated before policies are finalised.

On trade and investment, the committee examined Ghana’s obligations and opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement and the African Growth and Opportunity Act, both of which are at important inflection points. While AfCFTA holds significant promise for regional integration, members pointed to persistent barriers including high logistics costs, limited trade facilitation, and insufficient awareness of market access opportunities as challenges that continue to hold back intra-African commerce. Discussions also touched on the balance between local content objectives and maintaining Ghana’s attractiveness to foreign investors, with members noting that transparency, consistency, and predictability in policy implementation are as important as the policies themselves. Ease of doing business, including efficient dispute resolution, predictable tax administration, and better coordination among regulatory institutions, was identified as a priority theme that cuts across all of these areas.

Looking ahead, the committee outlined a series of priority engagements for the coming months with institutions including the Ghana Revenue Authority, the Office of the Registrar of Companies, the Judiciary, and other regulatory bodies whose decisions directly affect business operations. Members agreed that the strongest advocacy positions are those grounded in documented member experience and credible sector data, and the committee encouraged companies to share their encounters with regulatory and compliance challenges so that these can inform the Chamber’s submissions and stakeholder engagements. Through consistent dialogue with policymakers and regulators, the Legal, Policy and Governance Committee will continue working to ensure that Ghana’s regulatory environment keeps pace with its economic ambitions, and that the voice of the private sector contributes meaningfully to shaping the policy decisions that determine whether those ambitions are realised.

AmCham Ghana Legal, Policy and Governance Committee

AmCham Ghana Communications Office

www.amchamghana.org

The American Chamber of Commerce Ghana’s Health, Hospitality, Logistics, Transport and Aviation Sector Committee convened on 23 June 2026 at the AmCham Ghana Secretariat, bringing together industry leaders from across these sectors to examine the barriers most affecting Ghana’s competitiveness as a business, tourism, and investment destination. The meeting was chaired by Emmanuel Antwi, Country Lead for Johnson and Johnson Innovative Medicine, whose expertise in the healthcare and life sciences sector shaped a discussion that was grounded in both commercial reality and public interest. Members worked through a wide range of concerns, from the high cost of intra-Africa air travel and logistics bottlenecks to gaps in healthcare coverage and the rising cost of doing business in the hospitality sector. What united every conversation was a shared conviction that Ghana has the potential to become West Africa’s leading hub across all these sectors, and that closing the gap between that potential and the current operating reality requires deliberate, evidence-based engagement with government and regulators.

Connectivity emerged as the meeting’s most persistent theme. Members noted that it is, in many cases, cheaper to fly from Accra to a European city than to a neighbouring West African capital, a situation driven by unresolved traffic rights agreements, limited route competition, and a compounding tax burden on air tickets. At Kotoka International Airport, committee members raised concerns about the pace and communication surrounding ongoing infrastructure changes, stressing that operational decisions affecting airlines and passengers must be accompanied by transparent, timely stakeholder engagement. For Ghana to fulfil its ambition as a regional aviation hub, members agreed, infrastructure development must be matched by policies that actively encourage carrier competition and keep travel accessible for the business travellers and tourists the country is working hard to attract.

On healthcare, the committee welcomed recent indications that the National Health Insurance Scheme will expand reinvestment coverage for critical illnesses, including cancer, and discussed the growing urgency of addressing mental health conditions, which members noted are having a measurable impact on workplace productivity and employee wellbeing across both the public and private sectors. In the hospitality space, the conversation turned to the cost pressures facing operators, with members highlighting how the accumulation of utility costs, taxes, and regulatory fees is making Ghana a more expensive destination relative to regional competitors, and potentially undermining the progress made through years of international tourism promotion. Both discussions pointed toward the same conclusion: Ghana’s ability to retain visitors, workers, and investors depends not just on attracting them but on ensuring that the systems they rely on, healthcare, accommodation, infrastructure, are affordable, functional, and consistently improving.

On logistics and trade, members described a business environment in which customs procedures, valuation practices, and cross-border administrative requirements continue to add cost and delay for companies moving goods across the region. Despite Ghana’s commitments under the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, practical barriers to regional commerce remain significant, and the committee agreed that stronger customs coordination and greater transparency in trade facilitation are essential to making AfCFTA work on the ground. Looking ahead, the committee identified engagements with regulatory agencies, transport authorities, and trade facilitation institutions as priorities for the coming months, and emphasised that the most effective advocacy will be grounded in sector-specific data and evidence. Members were encouraged to contribute their documented experiences so that the committee can bring credible, well-supported positions to every policy conversation.

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AmCham Ghana Health, Hospitality, Logistics, Transport and Aviation Sector Committee

AmCham Communications Office

www.amchamghana.org

The AmCham ICT Digital Economy & Innovation Sector Committee convened on Wednesday, 3^rd June 2026, at the Chamber to assess fast-moving legislative and infrastructure developments that could significantly impact the private sector. Topping the agenda was Ghana’s proposed 15 ICT sector bills. Members noted that despite an updated draft reportedly heading to Cabinet and then Parliament, substantial concerns remain unaddressed, including proposed fee hikes and provisions that concentrate appointment powers in the presidency, reducing the autonomy of key agencies.

“Nothing substantive has changed,” a member observed, urging the Chamber to prepare for upcoming public consultations. Strategies discussed include engaging Parliament directly, leveraging media outreach, and involving the World Bank and other stakeholders as the consultative process begins.

On the national AI strategy front, the committee laid out a proactive engagement plan. Amcham intends to produce a formal position paper that articulates the private sector’s priorities and pragmatic policy asks, plan a U.S. government-aligned AI event, exploring topics like responsible AI, talent development, and the National AI Strategy’s impact on businesses. Members also highlighted the need for a collective value proposition to showcase U.S. companies’ AI capabilities to Ghanaian officials.

With parliamentary consultation dates expected to be published soon, the committee resolved to hold weekly review sessions on the bills and finalize a position paper ahead of parliamentary consultations. The chamber urged all members to monitor social and parliamentary channels closely and to be ready to mobilize input as soon as the process opens. Lastly, the Chamber encouraged members to include AmCham in corporate social responsibility initiatives to build visibility.

AmCham Ghana’s Energy Extractive & Infrastructure Sector Committee held its inaugural 2026 meeting this week, bringing together leaders from U.S. companies operating across Ghana’s mining, oil and gas, power generation, and infrastructure sectors to identify critical policy challenges and establish a coordinated advocacy framework for the year ahead. The session convened representatives from major U.S. companies, including Halliburton, Schlumberger, Newmont Ghana, General Electric, Cummins, Caterpillar, and other key players in Ghana’s extractive and energy sectors. The discussion focused on regulatory uncertainty, fiscal policy changes, and the importance of maintaining Ghana’s competitive position as West Africa’s premier investment destination in an increasingly competitive regional landscape.

Committee members from the mining sector raised pressing concerns affecting long-term investment decisions and operational sustainability. The reduction of mining lease durations from 30 years to 15 years emerged as a critical issue, with members noting that this change could fundamentally undermine the economics of capital-intensive mining projects that require decades to achieve return on investment. The multi-billion–dollar investments required for modern mining operations, from exploration through production, demand certainty over extended timeframes to justify capital deployment. Additionally, the shift from encouraging local participation to mandating local ownership raises anxieties about investment certainty for large-scale operations operators. Members emphasized that while capacity building and local participation remain important goals, ownership transfers risk discouraging new foreign direct investment at a time when Ghana needs to maintain its competitive edge in attracting mining capital.

The oil and gas sector representatives highlighted a different but equally concerning set of challenges affecting upstream investment. Members noted that Ghana has experienced minimal new exploration investment over the past five years, a troubling trend for a sector that requires continuous capital inflows to maintain production levels. Ongoing fiscal regime reviews, the introduction of a 1% local content levy on capital expenditure, and Bank of Ghana foreign exchange restrictions are creating compounding uncertainty at precisely the moment when the sector needs stability to attract new capital for both offshore and emerging onshore opportunities. Power sector representatives, meanwhile, emphasized the critical importance of maintaining the cash waterfall payment discipline recently implemented,following years of payment challenges that created arrears exceeding $2 billion. Without sustained commitment to this reformed payment structure, the sector risks returning to crisis conditions that undermine investment in generation capacity and grid infrastructure. For the Power industry, discussions centered around distribution losses of 20-30% across the power system, which drive up electricity costs and make Ghana less competitive than our neighbours for industrial operations that require reliable, affordable power.

Beyond these sector-specific challenges, committee members identified cross-cutting issues affecting the entire business environment. A recurring theme throughout the discussion was the challenge of inadequate private sector consultation before policies advance to Parliament, with members noting that by the time legislation is passed, opportunities for meaningful engagement and input have often closed, requiring expensive and time-consuming retroactive advocacy efforts.

Engagements with the Ghana Revenue Authority also featured prominently, with members highlighting opportunities to strengthen alignment around tax assessment processes furtherand enhance predictability for businesses. There was a shared recognition of the importance of fostering a more collaborative and solutions-oriented relationship with one of the government’s key revenue institutions.

The Committee therefore agreed to prioritize the establishment of regular dialogue mechanisms with GRA leadership, with an initial engagement scheduled for April 2026, as a constructive step toward deepening mutual understanding and developing more efficient pathways for addressing tax-related matters.

In response to these challenges, the Committee agreed on a multi-track advocacy approach combining direct government engagement, close coordination with the U.S. Embassy Foreign Commercial Service, and strategic communication to amplify the economic contributions of U.S. companies operating in Ghana. Members committed to providing comprehensive data on taxes paid, employment numbers, and corporate social responsibility contributions to strengthen data-driven advocacy efforts that demonstrate the tangible benefits these companies bring to Ghana’s economy. Key engagement priorities include scheduled meetings with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, the Petroleum Commission, the Minerals Commission, and the Ministry of Energy, while the Committee will also monitor the BRIG portal for draft policies affecting member operations and coordinate rapid responses when time-sensitive issues emerge. Representatives from the U.S. Embassy Foreign Commercial Service participated in the meeting and emphasized the importance of keeping Embassy teams informed of emerging policy issues in real-time, committing to incorporate Committee priorities into diplomatic engagement talking points and leverage high-profile opportunities such as U.S. Chamber of Commerce visits and bilateral commercial dialogues to amplify advocacy messages.

The Committee elected John Swatson from Baker Hughes as Chair and Eric Mabenge from Sewia Mining as a Vice Chair representing the infrastructure sector to ensure balanced leadership across the committee’s diverse membership. Quarterly meetings have been scheduled, with the next session set for May 19, 2026, and a WhatsApp group has been established to enable rapid information sharing between formal meetings. As one of AmCham Ghana’s most active sector committees, the Energy, Extractive & Infrastructure Sector Committee represents companies that collectively contribute billions of cedis annually in taxes, royalties, and levies while employing thousands of Ghanaian nationals across technical and leadership positions. The Committee’s advocacy work aims to ensure policies support continued U.S. investment while strengthening Ghana’s position as West Africa’s most attractive destination for extractive and energy sector investment, recognizing that regulatory certainty and collaborative public-private dialogue remain essential foundations for sustained economic growth and development.