Getting paid in Ghana: what Canadian service firms need to know about the cedi, tax and moving money home
Ghana’s inflation is 5.2% and its IMF programme is done, but a 20% withholding tax, no tax treaty with Canada and new rules on long-term service contracts decide how much of an invoice actually comes home.
By the Citi Sighs Intelligence Desk — Toronto, October 22, 2026
TORONTO — For a Canadian services firm, Ghana in late 2026 looks steadier than it has in years. Inflation was 5.2% in September, the central bank has held its policy rate at 14% for three straight meetings, and the country completed its US$3 billion IMF programme in July.
But the headline numbers are not what decides whether a Ghanaian contract pays. Four things do: the cedi, a 20% withholding tax, the absence of a Canada–Ghana tax treaty, and a new law that now governs many long-term service agreements.
The cedi: from best performer to a managed slide
The cedi rose more than 40% against the U.S. dollar in 2025, which made it Africa’s best-performing currency on IMF data. In 2026 the direction reversed. The Bank of Ghana’s own September report shows the cedi down 7.11% against the dollar on the interbank market from January to August.
The central bank is cushioning the fall. It supplied about US$1.0 billion to the currency market in July and US$1.2 billion in June. By early August the interbank rate stood near GH¢11.69 to the dollar. Reserves were US$12 billion in September, about 4.5 months of import cover.
For a firm billing in Canadian or U.S. dollars, a weaker cedi means a Ghanaian client needs more cedis to pay the same invoice. That shows up in renewals and in pressure to price locally.
Pricing in cedis is the rule at home
Ghana’s Foreign Exchange Act bars pricing, advertising, paying or receiving foreign currency for goods and services inside Ghana. In August 2025 the Bank of Ghana repeated that the cedi is the only legal tender for local transactions, with sanctions for breaches.
That matters most once a Canadian firm sets up a local entity and starts selling inside Ghana. Cross-border invoices from Canada go through the client’s bank, which will ask for supporting documents before it sends foreign currency abroad. Which documents a bank requires for an ordinary services payment is not set out in a single public rule we could find.
A new law for long-term service contracts
The bigger change is recent. Ghana’s Investment Promotion Authority Act, 2026 (Act 1173) replaced the old investment centre law. Agreements for technical services, management, licences or know-how that run 12 months or longer must be registered with the new authority.
Without that registration, banks cannot send the fees abroad and the client cannot deduct them for tax. The rules also cap fees: up to 5% of net sales for technical services and 2% of pre-tax profit for management, 8% of net sales combined. Higher fees need the authority’s prior approval. Registration lasts five years.
For a software or consulting firm, the common annual retainer is exactly the kind of contract this can catch.
The tax arithmetic
Ghana applies a 20% final withholding tax on service, management, consulting and technical fees paid to non-residents. Royalties are taxed at 15%. On a C$100,000 invoice, the client deducts C$20,000 at source.
There is no tax treaty between Canada and Ghana, so no treaty rate reduces that 20%. Whether and how much a Canadian firm can recover through foreign tax credits at home is a question for its own tax adviser.
VAT is the other moving part. From January 1, 2026, Ghana’s effective VAT rate is 20%, down from about 21.9%. The Ghana Revenue Authority says non-resident digital service providers already owe VAT, with about 92 registered and a new system targeting payments made by Ghanaian cards and mobile money. How this applies to business-to-business software sales is not clear from public guidance, and is worth checking before you sign.
Where the money moves
Ghana’s payments infrastructure is a strength. Mobile money handled GH¢4.54 trillion in 2025, up 50.8%, and the GhIPSS instant bank-transfer system processed GH¢47.5 billion in 2024, up 233%.
Local rails, though, assume a local business. Paystack, for example, pays registered businesses in Ghana only to a corporate bank or mobile money account in the business’s name. A firm billing from Canada will mostly be paid by international wire.
The case for and against
The case for Ghana is real. Inflation is 5.2%, the IMF programme has given way to a non-financing monitoring arrangement, and the IMF now rates debt distress risk as moderate. Canada already has ties there: two-way merchandise trade was $483 million in 2024, and Canadian mining assets there were estimated at $1.1 billion in 2023.
The case against is about friction, not stability. A 20% tax taken at source with no treaty relief, fee caps and registration for longer contracts, and a currency that moved more than 40% one way in 2025 and about 7% the other in 2026 all eat into margin. The cedi’s calm also depends partly on central bank dollar sales that may not last at today’s pace.
What we could not verify
We could not find public guidance on which documents Ghanaian banks require for ordinary cross-border service payments, or on how VAT applies to business-to-business digital services from abroad. We also could not source a reliable current cedi–Canadian dollar rate. We will update this piece if that changes.
Disclosure: Citi Sighs has no commercial relationship with any company or institution named in this article. This article is general information, not tax, legal or investment advice.