While Ghana has strong historical ties to Britain (and to a lesser extent, with Europe generally), there is a strong – and increasing – appreciation for U.S. made goods and American culture. Many Ghanaians have a strong interest as well as business and family ties in the United States and enjoy the opportunity to meet Americans in either a business or personal setting.

Face-to-face contact is the preferred method of transacting business in Ghana. While Ghanaians are accustomed to conducting transactions over email, phone or text, face-to-face contact is the most effective way of building long-term business relationships. While personal visits to potential business partners may seem an inefficient way of doing business, over the long term, such courtesies can yield rewards in the form of loyal business contacts. (See more under Business Customs in Chapter 8: Business Travel).

Trade Promotion and Advertising

There are several advertising agencies in Accra. A few of the larger agencies offer a full range of publicity and sales promotion services in the country’s main population centers. Three of them, Lowe Lintas Ghana Limited; Design & Display Publicity (DDP); and Media Majique, are affiliates of U.S. companies. While many of the smaller agencies market themselves as advertising agencies, they are not full-service advertising agencies in the sense that is familiar to most U.S. companies. Rather, they are engaged primarily in collateral design and printing. The U.S. Commercial Service Ghana can be of assistance in identifying suitable companies for brand representation and leading publications with general or targeted readership.

The following is a list of major newspapers and business journals:

• Daily Graphic
• Ghanaian Chronicle
• Ghanaian Times
• Business and Financial Times

The Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times are state-owned daily newspapers and have the largest circulation base, while the other publications listed above are privately owned and circulate mainly in metropolitan areas. Ghanaians own more than 10 million television sets and over 17 million radios. There are several free-on-air television networks currently broadcasting in Accra (GTV, TV3, Metro TV, TV Africa, Citi TV, Crystal TV, E-TV, Net2 and GHOne) and over 20 pay-per-view networks re-broadcast by satellite. There are also over 120 FM radio stations and three short-wave stations.

Ghanaians are increasingly media savvy and accustomed to advertising across a full range of media. In addition to television, Internet, print and radio, point of sale advertising and outdoor posters are also common. The popularity of trade shows is also growing and can sometimes be a useful means of reaching consumers.