Ghana losing billions in potential revenue due to weak collection – Dr Said Boakye, IFS.

The Executive Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), Dr Said Boakye, has warned that Ghana is losing billions of dollars in potential government revenue due to weak revenue mobilisation, corruption, revenue leakages and excessive tax exemptions.

Speaking at the institute’s office in Accra on Thursday, November 5, 2026, Dr Boakye said Ghana’s revenue collection remained significantly below the levels recorded by several other Sub-Saharan African countries.

Presenting the institute’s October 2026 policy brief titled A Reexamination of the Low Government Revenue Mobilization in Ghana, he noted that Ghana’s total revenue and grants accounted for 15.7 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), placing the country 18th among 25 Sub-Saharan African countries assessed.

He explained that the figure was below the regional average of 20.1 per cent, while Namibia, Seychelles and Botswana recorded 31.3 per cent, 30 per cent and 29.5 per cent respectively.

Dr Boakye said the country’s poor revenue performance meant government was collecting far less money than it could generate to finance development.

According to him, Ghana could have raised GH¢288.26 billion in total revenue and grants in 2025 if its revenue-to-GDP ratio had matched the Sub-Saharan African average of 20.1 per cent.

He explained that this would have been GH¢63.38 billion more than the GH¢224.88 billion actually collected during the year.

He further noted that if Ghana had matched Botswana’s revenue-to-GDP ratio of 29.5 per cent, it could have collected GH¢423.06 billion, representing an additional GH¢198.18 billion.

Dr Boakye warned that the country’s weak revenue mobilisation had serious consequences for national development, including inadequate infrastructure, increased government borrowing, rising debt servicing costs and low public sector salaries.

He cited the 2025 infrastructure ranking by the International Institute for Management Development, which placed Ghana at 13.5 points, compared with Botswana’s 28.3 and South Africa’s 20.4.

He pointed to Ghana’s relatively low per capita GDP of US$2,419 in 2024, compared with US$7,650 in Botswana, US$6,267 in South Africa and US$4,502 in Namibia.

Dr Boakye identified three major factors responsible for Ghana’s weak revenue mobilisation: low revenue generation from the extractive sector, revenue leakages and excessive tax exemptions granted to businesses to attract investment.

On revenue from mining, he said Ghana earned relatively little from its mineral resources despite having a large mining industry.

He disclosed that between 2019 and 2023, government revenue from mining represented an average of only 15 per cent of the sector’s value added.

He contrasted this with Botswana, which generated an average of 60.9 per cent of its mining value added as government revenue during the same period.

Dr Boakye attributed the difference partly to Botswana’s direct involvement in its mining industry through partnerships with private companies, allowing the government to earn more from dividends, royalties and corporate taxes.

He further disclosed that Ghana’s mining sector generated US$13.40 billion in value added in 2025, but the government received only US$1.60 billion in revenue.

He said Ghana could have earned an additional US$6.56 billion from mining in 2025 if it had achieved Botswana’s average revenue collection rate of 60.9 per cent.

On revenue leakages, Dr Boakye identified tax underreporting, evasion, avoidance and collusion among revenue officials and other players as major challenges.

He cited a revelation by the Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Anthony Sarpong, in April 2026 that the country had lost more than GH¢11 billion in revenue at its ports due to incorrect declarations involving the origin, classification and valuation of imported goods.

He identified corruption within public institutions as a major contributor to the problem.

Regarding tax exemptions, Dr Boakye argued that successive governments had granted excessive tax incentives to businesses, particularly foreign investors, resulting in significant revenue losses.

He cited incentives under the Free Zones Act and the Ghana Automotive Development Policy, which provide companies with tax holidays, import duty exemptions and other financial benefits.

He noted that the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre’s inventory lists as many as 31 income tax, customs and financial incentive packages available to businesses across various sectors.

To address the problem, Dr Boakye recommended that government take a more active role in the extractive sector by investing directly in mining activities or partnering with private investors, as practised in Botswana.

He proposed the introduction of production-sharing agreements as an alternative to the current concession system to enable the country to earn more from its natural resources.

He called for a stronger fight against corruption, particularly within institutions responsible for collecting tax and non-tax revenue.

Dr Boakye further recommended a reward and punishment system, commonly known as the carrot-and-stick approach, to encourage revenue officials who perform their duties properly while ensuring that those involved in wrongdoing are punished swiftly.

Additionally, he urged government to review existing tax exemptions and discontinue those that do not provide sufficient economic benefits to the country.

He stressed that tax incentives should be assessed against the revenue government loses, the number of jobs created for Ghanaians and the foreign exchange inflows they generate.

He maintained that Ghana must improve its economic and political environment rather than rely heavily on tax exemptions to attract both local and foreign investors.

By: Jacob Aggrey