Ghana's Ranked Seventh in the Global Rankings: What this Rising Means

Ghana has made a global ranking, top 10 in Africa and already I could hear people getting

ready to celebrate, sharing the post, adding the Ghana flag emoji, sending it around to

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whatsapp groups but hold on, I want us all to do something differently here.

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Instead of just celebrating for the sake of it, let's actually break down what this means

because if we only celebrate rankings without understanding what's underneath them, we're

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going to keep making the same mistakes as a country, as a city.

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and not as honestly as individuals.

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And this is something I've spoken about in previous episodes.

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I'll leave a link below.

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I'm Adrian Daniels.

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You're now listening to the The Sound of Accra podcast where we showcase global Ghanaian

excellence into the world.

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Today, we're getting into the 2026 best countries ranking from Business Inside Africa,

which puts 10 African countries on the global list.

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We're gonna talk about what this ranking actually means.

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where Ghana generally stands and most importantly, what this means for you.

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Whether you're building a business in Accra, Ghana, investing from that diaspora,

investing in Africa or trying to position yourself for the next three to five years.

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Let's go straight into it.

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Let's be clear about what we're talking about because too many of these conversations

happen without actually reading between the lines.

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The 2026 Best Countries Report from US News and World Report evaluated 100 countries

across eight categories.

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That's governance, economic development, health, civic health, infrastructure,

opportunity, natural environment, culture, and tourism.

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right?

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100 data points.

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This isn't something where you waver a wand and pick your favorites.

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This is an actual framework.

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Now the 10 African countries that made a list are Seychelles, Morocco,

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Tunisia, Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.

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Now, I found something interesting and nobody's really talking about this.

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Ghana didn't automatically qualify through the quantitative screen.

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The methodology says they expanded to 100 countries and nine additional nations were hand

selected above the data threshold for.

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and I quote, global influence and regional representation.

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Ghana was one of those nine.

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So let me ask you, is that a source of pride or is it a prompt for reflection?

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Because it's kind of both, if I was to say the least.

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means Ghana matters on the global stage, but also means we're not yet dominating on the

hard metrics.

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We were chosen and the difference between being chosen and earning a spot, that gap is

exactly where the work lives.

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So.

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Ghana came up seventh, all right?

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If you're watching on YouTube, you see me highlight the number seven with Ghana next to

it.

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Ghana came in seventh among the African countries on this list.

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The writer recognises gold, it recognises cocoa, it recognises oil exports, alongside

other growth industries such as telecommunications, banking and digital services.

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And I'll agree with that.

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I mean, there's a number of companies I've even mentioned on the Sound of Car podcast that

tie in with pretty much almost all these industries.

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um it note stability and it kind of notes also our democratic track record, uh our open

business environment and things like that.

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And that's real.

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Ghana has something that lot of African countries generally don't have, which is a

reputation for peaceful transitions of power and the functional private sector ecosystem.

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Entrepreneurs from across the continent come to Ghana to set up.

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That's not nothing.

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That's actually a huge competitive advantage, I would say the least.

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that were consistently underestimated.

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But what I would say is that the ranking also sits alongside this reality.

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We've just come through one of the most painful debt restructuring processes in history

and the city has taken hits that have wiped out our real purchasing power for ordinary

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gardens.

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We've had Domsur back, flooding, Galyamse eating our rivers.

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These aren't footnotes.

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These are actual sensual to the story.

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Now Ghana is always holding pride.

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and pressure in the same hands.

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And I think the entrepreneurs and investors who are going to win here are the ones who

understand both sides of that equation, all right?

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Not just opportunity, but also the operational complexity that comes with that.

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So here's the data point I want you guys to hold on to.

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Research supported by the UN Commission for Africa found that Accra generates somewhere

between 34 % and 39 % of Ghana's entire GDP.

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One city.

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So when we talk about Ghana's place in the African ranking, we really mostly talk about

Accra.

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Think about what that means.

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The mobile money infrastructure, which I've spoken about in the previous episode, that

made Ghana Africa's number one ranked mobile money market, that's largely running through

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Accra.

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The FinTech startups, when you think about the real estate boom and Pocasi, East Lagoon,

Tamar, the creative economy, the film industry, the hospitality sector, putting in the

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diaspora from all that is-

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concentrated in and around the city.

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You know, I've done episodes and things like this.

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Accra is not just the capital.

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Accra is the engine.

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And if Ghana is in the top 10 in Africa, then Accra is doing a huge amount of the heavy

lifting to put it there.

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But, and this is the part that keeps me up at night.

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What happens when 34 % of a country's economy is concentrated in one city that floods

every rainy season?

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That struggles with consistent power.

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That's running out of affordable land.

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That's watching its best talent get poached by Rwanda and South Africa.

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I you've heard about, you know, stories about what's happening in South Africa.

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know, Ghanaians having to be rescued from South Africa and they went there because of

opportunities.

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The ranking tells you where you are but it doesn't tell you how fragile the foundation is.

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It's not going to know everything, right?

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Let's face it, as good as data is.

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That part you have to figure out yourself.

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So let me bring this home because this is a business and entrepreneurship show.

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Yes, we showcase global guiding excellence, we'll mainly focus on business and

entrepreneurship and leadership, of course.

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So what does this ranking practically mean for someone listening right now?

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If you're a diasporic investor, this ranking is a good signal.

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It's confirmation that the global conversation about African markets is shifting.

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Ghana is in that list that includes Morocco.

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Even when we look at Morocco, you can also see here that

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Morocco is set to be Africa's next powerhouse, which is very interesting here.

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There's a lot happening in Morocco.

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It also includes Egypt and South Africa.

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Those are markets where serious global capital flows.

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All right, let's face it.

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The fact that Ghana is in the same conversation means the due diligence conversation is

changing.

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Your pitch to international partners slightly got easier.

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You can use that.

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You can leverage that information.

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And if you're building a business in the Kral and Ghana right now, this ranking tells you

that the sectors being recognized are the ones that you should probably focus on, which is

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telecoms, banking, digital services and resources.

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And to even add to that, you know, I've spoken recently about AI, about FinTech, about

clean energy, about property, about agriculture.

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If you're not building any of these spaces, ask yourself why not?

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And what is actual focus?

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If you're a creator,

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or consultant, this is a reminder that Garnet's story is being watched.

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The global Garnet community has a real soft power.

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How we show up, what we build and how we tell our own story matters more than ever before.

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And for everyone, don't let a rite can be the ceiling.

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The question is never just are we on a list?

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The question then becomes, are we building the things that will keep us on it and move us

higher?

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All right.

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Now, one more thing, because I want to...

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bring this to the close because Africa's presence on this list tells a bigger story.

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If you look at the 10 countries, all right, and what they represent, Seychelles wins on

luxury tourism.

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and hyper capita income, which is a small island economy playing to its strengths.

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Morocco wins through diversification, tourism, agriculture, and automated manufacturing,

know, phosphorate exports, things like that.

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And there's now a major AI investment push.

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Egypt wins through strategic geography, natural gas, tourism, and the Suez Canal.

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South Africa wins on industrial depth, that's mining, finance, manufacturing.

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And then you've got Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya,

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Zimbabwe, countries where the resources, the youth, the population, the crater energy and

the entrepreneurial intensity are real, but so are the government challenges and the

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infrastructure gaps.

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right.

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So the lesson here isn't to copy anyone.

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The lesson here is that there's no single script for African development.

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As I always say to people, there's no one playbook for the entire Africa.

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Every country that's doing well is doing well on their own terms.

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Ghana needs to find that and double down on its own terms.

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And I'll argue that

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that those terms are democratic stability, digital infrastructure, and the globally

connected Ghanaian community that sends back more than just remittances, it sends back

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skills, it sends back networks, it sends back capital.

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And once again, I've spoken to people like this who are experts in these very fields, and

you guys can check those episodes out on the Sound of Accra podcast, all right?

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I'll leave some in the link below.

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Right, so here's where I landed this, guys.

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So rankings and mirrors, not just trophies.

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And when you look in this mirror, Ghana looks good, but it's not the destination.

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The destination is a city in a country where the young people from the University of

Medina has real options, where the Coder in the East Legon doesn't have to choose between

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building here and building in London.

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They can build right home in Ghana.

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Where the entrepreneur in Makola has access to capital, is banked, has consistent power

and digital infrastructure that doesn't let them down.

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Where the creative in Osu!

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can build a global brand without leaving the city.

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That's the Gana that deserves not just to be chosen for a list, but to top it.

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So let's celebrate this ranking, you know, as much as I may have talked about some

negatives have gone, let's celebrate this ranking.

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If you listen to this episode, my call to action for you today is just to share this

episode with someone.

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All right.

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And then when we think about it, the real ranking is being written right now, because in

every business decision, every investment, every hire, every product you build and every

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problem you choose to solve, build like the ranking depends on you.

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Because honestly, it really, really does.

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We all have a part.

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to play in this.

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So having said that, I'm Adrian Daniels, you've been listening to the Sound of Accra

podcast, you've been amazing, God bless you.

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Once again, if this episode gave you something to think about, to ponder on, share it with

someone in your network who needs to hear this, who's building, you know, in Ghana or for

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Ghana, investing from the diaspora, and I'll see you the next one.

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Thank you so much for listening.