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Ghana CARES Program

During the Covid pandemic, the Government of Ghana announced the Ghana COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalization of Enterprises Support Program, (the Ghana CARES Program) or ‘Obaatan Pa’. The first phase consisted of emergency Covid relief measures to support the health sector, companies, and families. The second phase, titled “Revitalize and Transform the Economy” is being implemented from 2021-2023. This phase contains several government objectives and initiatives across key industries of interest to U.S. companies.  The Government aims for 70% of the program to be financed by the private sector and international donors.  

The main areas of focus in Phase Two of the CARES Program are:  

  • Supporting commercial farming and attracting educated youth into agriculture. 
  • Building Ghana’s light manufacturing, targeting agro-processing, reducing imports of food. Specifically, Ghana is looking ramp up its production of rice, poultry, cassava, sugar, and tomatoes.
  • Developing Ghana’s pharmaceuticals, and textiles and garments sectors. Ghana has 40 pharmaceutical manufacturers. Only about 20 are active, although many played an important role in producing personal protective equipment during the pandemic. Out of about 3,000 drugs registered by Ghana’s Food and Drugs Board (FDB), less than a third are produced locally. Meanwhile, Ghana’s textiles and garment industry comprises four large textile mills which produce fabric and several garment manufacturers. The sector employs 7500 workers and has $50 million in annual exports, an amount that that Government thinks could be expanded significantly.
  • Developing the machine tools industry. The Government aims to develop a machine tool industry to manufacture parts for the agricultural equipment sector initially, and then expand production into auto parts.  
  • Developing the housing and construction industry. Ghana has a housing deficit of nearly two million homes. The Government will help Ghanaian construction companies strengthen their capacity, which can then be deployed to building houses. It also seeks to expand housing mortgage and construction finance programs and facilitate access to land by housing estate developers. The Government announced a National Home Ownership Fund in November 2021 that would support Real Estate Investment Trust and promote Rent-to-Own Schemes in the country. 

For more information on specific potential commercial opportunities linked to the CARES Program, contact the Commercial Section of U.S. Embassy Ghana at email: office.accra@trade.gov or Tel: +233(0)30-274-1870.   See: Ghanaian Government FAQs about the CARES Program. 

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