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As a stable country with rapid economic growth, Ghana hopes to capitalise on its image as a well managed a peaceful West African state to attract tourists. While the sector still makes up a relatively small portion of GDP, at 2.3%, the government is hoping to increase its contribution to the economy and become a more competitive African tourism market. Ecotourism remains the foundation of the sector in Ghana, with its dense forests and wild array of wildlife habitats. Major goals for the sector include launching stronger promotional campaigns and developing industry-specific education and training – already available at several of the country’s educational institutions – in order to provide higher service quality. This chapter features an interview with Reto Wittwer, President and CEP, Kempinski Group.

In conjunction with Deloitte, OBG provides an overview of the Ghanaian taxation system, exploring the options and investor-friendly environment for businesses in the country. This chapter contains a viewpoint from Felix Nana Sackey, Managing Partner at Deloitte & Touche.

The health sector has undergone major reforms over the course of the past decade, including the provision of more developed services and infrastructure in rural areas and the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme. The sector has seen a shift to preventive care, with greater numbers of Ghanaians visiting health facilities. The provision of health care infrastructure is also increasing, with a total of 3217 health facilities in the country. The education sector has also undergone a series of reforms in recent years. It has seen higher primary and secondary enrolment rates and a tripling in the number of tertiary educational institutions over the past decade, with the private sector now playing a bigger role in the sector. This chapter contains an interview with Franklyn Many, Rector, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.

The media market in Ghana is widely considered to be one of Africa’s freest and most competitive, with a variety of outlets across a number of types of media. The country has made strides in recent years with legislation that ensures the population’s right to access government information and in proposing a broadcasting bill that will lay out stricter regulations regarding the ownership of broadcasting organisations, providing a framework for the industry. Economic and media liberalisation has led to the growth of a highly competitive advertising industry, with new agencies emerging regularly. Advertising spending in 2011 amounted to $177.4m, with the communications industry, particularly telecoms, leading the pack, accounting for 17% of advertising spending. This chapter features an interview with David Ampofo, Managing Director, Channel Two Communications and host of Time with David.

Broad activity has increased dramatically over the past several years with the establishment of three new undersea links: the West Africa Cable System, Main One and Glo-1. While the pace of IT development is strong, particularly in comparison with other countries in the region, more efforts must be made to ensure connectivity outside of urban centres, which will mean lowering the prices of broadband and hardware to make these technologies more accessible to the average Ghanaian. The country’s telecoms market, too, is one of the most competitive on the continent. Mobile penetration has soared from 2.4% in 2001 to 84.9% in 2011, well ahead of the developing world average of 78.8%. Providers are seeking to boost revenues with non-voice services, though penetration is still relatively low. This chapter includes an interview with Herman Chinery-Hesse, Founder, The SOFTtribe.