Health: Growing Investments to Match Growing Demand

Ghana, with a population of more than 34 million, is one of Africa’s most dynamic economies, and demand for healthcare is growing with it. The 2026 budget allocates GH¢34 billion to health, more than 11 per cent of total government spending and 9.4 per cent more than in 2025. Domestic sources now account for around 72 per cent of health financing as donor support declines.

Ghana has around 200 hospitals, more than 500 diagnostic centres and over 2,400 pharmacies, with 38 pharmaceutical manufacturers onboarded onto the National E-Pharmacy platform. Expanding the national ambulance fleet to improve the ambulance-to-population ratio remains a priority. The 2026 budget provides GH¢600 million for three new regional hospitals in the Savannah, Oti, and Western North regions.

THE 2026 BUDGET ALLOCATES GH¢34 BILLION TO HEALTH, MORE THAN 11 PER CENT OF TOTAL GOVERNMENT SPENDING, INCLUDING GH¢11 BILLION FOR THE NHIS, WHOSE ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP HAS REACHED NEARLY 20 MILLION.

HEALTH INSURANCE
Ghana was among the first African countries to adopt universal health insurance through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which operates alongside around 12 licensed private schemes, seven of them commercial. Together they aim to make healthcare more accessible and affordable.

The 2026 budget provides GH¢11 billion for the NHIS, up from GH¢6.87 billion in 2024, following the decision to uncap the National Health Insurance Fund. Active membership has reached nearly 20 million, around 60 per cent of the population. Provider tariffs rise by an average of some 120 per cent from 2026, materially improving the position of accredited private facilities.

Two new instruments sit alongside the NHIS. The Free Primary Healthcare Programme, launched in April 2026 with GH¢1.5 billion, shifts the emphasis to preventive care and targets nationwide coverage by 2028. The Ghana Medical Trust Fund, known as MahamaCares, carries GH¢2.3 billion for non-communicable diseases not covered by the NHIS, including cancer, diabetes and renal care, and is designed to crowd in private and philanthropic capital.

The system operates on a mixed financing model. The government is increasing domestic resource mobilisation, redirecting resources, deepening partnerships with the private sector and introducing structural fiscal reforms to fund health services.

Care is organised in three tiers. Health posts, clinics and health centres deliver primary care such as immunisation, malaria treatment and antenatal services; secondary facilities provide specialists in fields such as cardiology, neurology and general surgery for referred patients; and tertiary hospitals offer the most specialised in-patient care and equipment.

MEDICAL DEVICES AND PHARMACEUTICALS
The medical devices market was valued at US$71.2 million in 2021, with double-digit growth forecast across all categories. Consumables continue to command the largest share, and ongoing health infrastructure projects and the continued rollout of the NHIS are expected to lift spending on medical devices further.

To build local pharmaceutical capacity, the government has banned imports of 14 widely used products that can be made locally, and domestically produced formulations benefit from a 10 per cent import duty exemption, alongside tax exemptions on medical inputs. Generic drugs, cheaper alternatives to patented medicines, hold a large share of the market, helped by government cost containment. The Ghana National Chamber of Pharmacy and LMI Holdings are developing a pharmaceutical industrial park in the Dawa industrial zone, with several manufacturers interested in locating there.

More than half of the healthcare services Ghanaians use are delivered by private providers, preferred for quality, service and shorter waiting times, while public facilities are favoured on price. Out-of-pocket spending remains common despite NHIS coverage. This growing preference points to clear opportunities in private healthcare infrastructure and service delivery.

Challenges persist, but the larger 2026 allocation, fiscal reforms and new financing instruments demonstrate a strong commitment to the health system. Combined with the focus on local pharmaceutical manufacturing and digital health solutions such as the National E-Pharmacy platform, they point to a robust growth trajectory for the sector.

SECTOR OPPORTUNITIES

A World Health Organization certified pharmaceutical manufacturing plant; none currently exists.
Active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing.
Cardiac catheterisation laboratories.
Research and development facilities.
Community care facilities for the elderly.
Cancer care, dialysis and other non-communicable disease services funded through the Ghana Medical Trust Fund.
Private primary care in districts covered by the Free Primary Healthcare Programme.

INVESTMENT INCENTIVES

Free transferability of capital, profits and dividends, with protection under the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Convention and Ghana’s double taxation agreements.
Exemptions from duties and taxes on most hospital equipment, including ambulances, and on certain pharmaceuticals.
No explicit import restrictions or tariffs on used or refurbished medical equipment.
NHIS provider tariffs rise by an average of around 120 per cent from 2026.
Price-sensitive consumers create openings for new entrants with affordable models.
Investment facilitation under the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre Act and the Free Zones Act. ■TG

Ghana has stood at the forefront of health financing reform in Africa and has made substantial progress toward universal health coverage, with health outcomes that compare well with those of its regional and economic peers. Public funding, through the Ministry of Health budget and the NHIS, accounts for about half of total health spending, with out-of-pocket payments at around 35 per cent and development assistance the remaining 15 per cent. Free provision of selected services, notably reproductive and child health, is one of two main mechanisms protecting households from health costs. The other, the NHIS, financed mainly by an earmarked tax, covers 60 per cent of the population (2022) and substantially reduced household out-of-pocket costs, though such payments remain common and account for a growing share of facilities’ revenues.