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Sub-Saharan Africa Ghana Trade Practices Government Influence Issues Public Administration

Ghana Trade Practices New Procurement Thresholds

The Government of Ghana rarely uses international competitive tendering (ICT) for its purchases, even when procurement is for a product or solution not produced or supplied in Ghana.  In 2022, for example, the World Trade Organization found that Ghana used ICT for less than one percent of local tenders.  

Ghana’s Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) and its 2016 amendment (Act 914) mandate that the procurement method of ICT, “shall be used whenever open competitive tendering is used, and effective competition cannot be obtained unless foreign firms are invited to tender.”  

Under that Act, ICT was required for public entities for purchases:

  • above Ghanaian Cedis (GH¢)10,000,000 (approximately USD $1,000,000 with the current exchange rate) for goods, 

  • above GH¢15,000,000 (USD $1,500,000 million) for works (construction, for example), and 

  • above GH¢5,000,000 (USD $500,000) for technical services.  
    In special emergency situations, other procurement methods can be used for purchases above these levels.

In February 2025, Ghana’s parliament passed a bill (Legislative Instrument 2516 on Public Procurement - Thresholds for Approving Authorities and Procurement Methods, 2025) that raised the thresholds for international competitive tendering several-fold to:

  • above GH¢40,000,000 (USD $4,000,000) for goods, 

  • above GH¢54,000,000 (USD $5,400,000) for works, and 

  • above GH¢20,000,000 (USD $2,000,000) for technical services.  


There are no threshold limits for consultancy services, which are procured using quality-based selection and quality and cost-based selection procurement methods.

Goods below the revised thresholds are subject to either national competitive tendering reserved for qualified domestic bidders, or requests for quotations. Restricted tenders and single-source procurement can be used, subject to approval by a national procurement board.

For more information about doing business in Ghana, please contact Commercial Service Ghana at Office.Accra@trade.gov or +233(0)30-274-1870.