Ghana

Starting a Business in

Ghana

Listed below is a detailed summary of the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcome in order to incorporate and register a new firm, along with their associated time and set-up costs.  It examines the procedures, time and cost involved in launching a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees and start-up capital of 10 times the economy's per-capita gross national income (GNI).

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Standardized Company

  • Legal Form: Private Limited Liability Company
  • City: Accra

About This Topic

To see indicator data for all economies, see the Starting a Business page. To see how economies rank, see the Rankings page.

No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 Check for availability of company name and submitt company documents to obtain a incorporation certificate

The entrepreneur arrives at the customers service office to reserve the company name and submit the company documents for registration.
-A search is conducted for the proposed company name and, if it is available, a reservation is made.
-The entrepreneur files the proposed company regulations with the Registrar. The regulations must be legibly printed or typewritten (or in a similar form acceptable to the Registrar). After the incorporation documents are assessed, the payment is made in cash or by a bank-certified check payable to the Registrar General.
The incorporation documents consist of the following forms:
- Company regulations (four copies).
- Form 3, Statement of shareholding structure (five copies).
- Form 4, Stated capital (two copies).
- Tax identification number form (one copy).

The forms require the following information:
- Name of company.
- Nature of the business that subscribers intend to engage in.
- Full names of subscribers and shareholders, their addresses, percentage shareholdings, occupation, and any directorships in any other company.
- Full names of the first directors of the company. A company must have a minimum of 2 directors and at least one director must be a resident of Ghana at all times, of sound mind, and of legal age (not younger than 21).
- Full name and address of company secretary and auditors (a letter of consent to act as auditor is attached).
- The number of shares that the company is to be registered with and the stated capital.
- An attestation that the minimum nominal capital complies with the requirement that a company 100% Ghanaian-owned have minimum nominal capital of at least GHC 500.
The company regulations may be drawn up by the party proposing to incorporate the company, or the standard format that comes with the incorporation forms may be adopted.

-The tax identification number (certificate) is usually obtained by the Registrar General's Department on behalf of the incorporated company. Four or five copies of the company regulations and Forms 3 and 4 are required (auditors, banks, solicitors, company secretaries may each require a copy).





 1 day name search – check the availability of company name is free, check the particulars of an existing company is GHC10 per search; complete set of Incorporation forms – GHC10. In addition, GHC 135 for registration of a limited company +GHC 40 filing fee for Forms 3 and 4 +GHC 5 per certification of regulations (3).
* 2 A Commissioner of Oaths authenticates forms required for the certificate to commence business

Form 4 must be completed for the issuance of the certificate to commence business, which requires authentication before a Commissioner of Oaths.The Commissioner for Oaths, located in the Registrar General’s Department, usually swears the oath within 1 day so that the company can obtain the certificate to commence business.
1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure) GHS 2
* 3 Obtain from the Registrar-General’s Department the certificate to commence business

After incorporating the company, the founder must complete Forms 3 and 4 within 28 days, indicating, among other information, the names, addresses, businesses, and occupations of the company’s secretary and directors; name and address of the company’s qualified auditor; the address of its registered office; its register of members; the amount of stated capital; and the number of issued and unissued company shares. Forms 3 and 4 must be signed by all company directors and the secretary. As the company's commencement tax, 0.5% of the stated capital is collected by the Registrar-General’s Department on behalf of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The Registrar of Companies now automatically registers new companies with the IRS. For companies engaged in general commercial or industrial activities, the minimum registration fee is GHC 1 and the maximum registration is GHC 10, as calculated on projected turnover. Obtaining a tax clearance certificate—if the company is otherwise entitled to a certificate and has a satisfactory tax position—will cost GHC 2. VAT is charged at 15% including a national health insurance levy (NHIL) of 2.5%.


 2 days (simultaneous with previous procedure) 0.5% of the stated capital as commencement tax + GHS 10 (registration fee with IRS)
4 Deposit paid-in capital in an account

The following documents must be presented to deposit paid-in capital in a bank account: copies of company regulations; the certificate of incorporation and the certificate to commence business; and signatures of the authorized company representatives.
1 day no charge
5 Apply for business licenses at the Metropolitan Authority

The cost to apply for a business license at the Metropolitan Authority depends on the type of business and the category in which it falls. Documents to be submitted depend on the type of enterprise (for example, restaurants must have permits from the fire department and the Town and Country Planning Authority—and, among other documents, an inspection certificate from the Ghana Tourist Board).
Companies fall into five categories:
A. GHC 500,000 in turnover: GHC 400
B. GHC 210,000–500,000 in turnover: GHC 245.
C. GHC 100,000 –200,000 in turnover: GHC 160.
D. GHC 3,000–100,000 in turnover: GHC 91,5.
E. GHC 0–300 in turnover: GHC 49,5
Fees are subject to charge by the Metropolitan Assembly, according to law.
7 days GHS 91.5 (varies, depending on the nature of the business)
* 6 Inspection of work premises by the Metropolitan Authority

An officer visits the business premises and reports to the Revenue Accountant of the Metropolitan Assembly, who then submits a report to the Revenue Mobilization Subcommittee of the Metropolitan Assembly. The subcommittee meets to deliberate on the report and then recommend to the Executive Committee of the Metropolitan Authority, whether any adjustment is required.
1 day (included in previous procedure) no charge
* 7 Apply for social security

To apply for social security, the company must attach the list of employees, their respective salaries and social security numbers, and the company’s certificate of incorporation and certificate to commence business.
1 day (simultaneous with previous procedure) no charge
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
Explore Economy Data