The objective of the Ghana CountryPrivate Sector Diagnostic (CPSD) is to identify the mainopportunities for the private sector that will have a strongdevelopment impact in Ghana and to highlight the keyconstraints (both cross-cutting and sector-specific)hampering private sector growth. The CPSD consists of asystematic assessment of all of Ghana’s economic sectorsalong two dimensions: (a) desirability: how privateinvestments in these sectors could help Ghana to address itsdevelopment challenges; and (b) expected feasibility: howthe constraints standing in the way could be removed. Thissector scan led to identification seven priority sectors, ofwhich, three were selected to conduct deep dive studies:namely agribusiness, ICT and education.Four mainopportunities exist for the private sector to make a majorcontribution by creating markets in Ghana. First, theprivate sector can help to develop new high-value exportmarkets, such as horticulture and ICT-enabled services, inwhich Ghana is already well positioned. Second, the privatesector can leverage ICT to improve the performance ofGhana’s most important sectors, including for improvinggovernment activities and services. Third, the privatesector can help to promote efficiency and innovation in thekey social sectors of education and health. Fourth, theprivate sector can play an important role in helping toaddress the main cross-cutting constraints, such asfacilitating trade, providing competitive green energy,opening rural land markets, developing technical skills, andfinancing promising small and medium enterprises(SMEs).There are fewer opportunities for transformativeprivate sector investments in the other sectors (mining,tourism, retail, construction, water and sanitation, andmanufacturing).Ghana can seize these opportunities through amix of public and private interventions:The governmentshould pursue essential economic reforms to resolve theenergy crisis by reforming the regulatory framework forelectricity tariffs; facilitating trade, through customsreforms and the Ghana Community Network Systems;Thesereforms would pave the way for the private sector to investin projects with a high development impact, includingthrough large firms. Such opportunities already exist inGhana in the three priority sectors of ICT, agribusiness andeducation that are reviewed in this report.The governmentshould also consider supporting the entry of ‘pioneer’investors, which are often in the form of foreign directinvestment (FDI).Supporting promising SMEs will also becritical, especially during their acceleration phase.Thiscould be achieved through a combination of public financingand capacity building, technical support adapted to thesector in which they operate, and risk-sharing and mezzaninefinance facilities. Similar to the pioneer investors, suchsupport should be provided in an inclusive, transparent andcompetitive manner. Examples of promising SMEs were found inall three deep-dive sectors.
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