Ghana

Economy & income

Currency

• Ghanaian cedi (GHS, GH₵/₵)
• ~11.5 per USD (13 Jul 2026, BoG/market) — the cedi strongly appreciated through 2025 (from ~15/USD end-2024) then softened again
• historically volatile

GDP per capita

• ~$3,300 nominal (2025 est., IMF WEO — boosted by cedi appreciation; total GDP ~$88bn)
• ~$8,027 PPP (2024, World Bank, current int'l $)

Average salary

• ~$220–240 net/mo (Numbeo/wage.is, 2025–26; ~GHS 2,600 net)
• formal-sector gross avg ~GHS 3,500–5,000 (~$300–435) — most Ghanaians are in informal/agri work below this

Median salary

• ~GHS 3,000–3,800/mo (~$260–330) — blended private-survey estimate
• no clean official national median published (GSS Labour Force Survey), and the informal sector (majority of workers) is largely uncaptured — treat as indicative only

Minimum wage

• National Daily Minimum Wage GHS 19.97/day from 1 Mar 2025 (+10%), raised to GHS 21.77/day for 2026
• ≈ GHS 520–570/mo ≈ $45–50/mo (set by the National Tripartite Committee)

Cost of living

• Low — consumer prices well below Western levels but Accra is relatively pricey for the region
• inflation has been high (cost-of-living pressure)
• Numbeo Ghana sample is thin (flag)

Digital landscape

Population

34.7 million (Jan 2025, DataReportal)

Internet users

69.9% (~24.3M users, Jan 2025; DataReportal notes it rose toward ~26.3M / 74.6% later in 2025)

Social media users

22.9% (~7.95M identities, Jan 2025; 42.7% female / 57.3% male)

Mobile connections

• 38.3M cellular connections = 110% of pop (Jan 2025)
• 93.4% broadband (3G/4G/5G)

Devices

• mobile ~52.8% / desktop ~46.2% / tablet ~1.0% (StatCounter, Jun 2026) — the unusually high desktop share reflects shared-PC/office/measurement effects
• personal access is overwhelmingly mobile (110% SIM penetration, ~70% Android)

Ad spend

• No official national total (DataReportal publishes none for GH)
• Statista digital-ad market ~$55–60M (2025 est.) → ~$67.8M by 2028 (~5.9% CAGR)
• influencer-ad segment ~$1.0M (2025)
• A small formal ad economy alongside large informal/word-of-mouth spend

Top social platforms

Facebook ~7.95M ad reach — dominant; 22.9% of pop

YouTube ~7.81M ad reach; ~32% of internet users

LinkedIn ~3.0M registered members

Instagram ~2.15M ad reach — urban/aspirational

X/Twitter ~1.21M ad reach — news/politics/showbiz

Messenger ~843K reach

• TikTok — ~70% of the online population per 2023 research; huge among youth — DataReportal GH ad reach not published

Messengers

• WhatsApp (dominant — ~92% of internet users; primary chat, groups & social commerce)
• Facebook Messenger (~843K ad reach)
• Telegram (growing — betting, crypto, deals & news channels)
• Snapchat (limited, younger urban)
• imo (low-data voice/video calls)

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods

• Mobile money (dominant rail — GHS 1.2 trillion+ transacted in 2025; ~8.1bn transactions in 2024). MTN MoMo leads with ~73% of the market (~90% of MoMo value), 20M+ active wallets
• Cash / cash-on-delivery (still common for e-commerce & everyday retail)
• Bank transfer / GhIPSS instant pay & Gh-link (growing interbank rails)
• Debit/credit cards — Visa/Mastercard (minority; urban, low card penetration)

E-wallets

• MTN MoMo (dominant)
• Telecel Cash (ex-Vodafone Cash)
• AirtelTigo Money
• G-Money
• Zeepay

Cash on delivery

Still significant on marketplaces (Jumia offers COD & buyer protection), but mobile-money prepayment is fast becoming the default checkout — ~78% of some online-retail transactions run through MTN MoMo

E-commerce

• Low-to-moderate but growing fast (online retail reportedly +40% YoY 2024→2025)
• trust, logistics & delivery outside Accra/Kumasi remain barriers
• strongly mobile-first

Notes

• Mobile-money-first market — offers/checkouts MUST support MoMo
• MTN is the must-have rail
• Bank-account penetration is modest, so design around MoMo + COD rather than cards

Audience & culture

Languages

• English (official — business, government, media & almost all ads)
• Akan / Twi (most widely spoken — Asante & Fante dialects, southern/central)
• Ewe (Volta, south-east)
• Ga / Ga-Dangme (Greater Accra)
• Dagbani & Hausa (northern lingua francas)
• Fante (coast); ~80 languages spoken nationwide

Religion

Christian 71.3% (Pentecostal/Charismatic 31.6%, Protestant 17.4%, plus Catholic & other), Muslim 19.9% (mostly Sunni; concentrated in the north), Traditional/other/none ~8.8% (2021 Census, Ghana Statistical Service)

Median age

21.3 years (DataReportal, Jan 2025) — very young population

Key seasons

• Christmas–New Year 'Detty December' (Dec–Jan) — diaspora returns, festivals & concerts, peak spending
• Easter
• Ramadan & Eid (northern Muslim regions)
• Independence Day (6 Mar)
• Homowo, Akwasidae & other traditional festivals
• AFCON / EPL & World Cup 2026 football windows (betting spikes)
• Black Friday & back-to-school (growing)

Cultural notes

• Young, mobile-first, football- and music-obsessed
• strong diaspora ties (remittances are a big income source)
• Religious & socially conservative — keep creatives modest, respect Christianity/Islam, avoid LGBT themes entirely
• Price-sensitive
• sports-betting culture is huge among young men
• heavy WhatsApp/Facebook/TikTok sharing

Where to find creators

• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube
• X/Twitter
• Facebook
• StarNgage / Modash rankings

Media landscape

Creators & public figures

Top creators

Wode Maya ~1.9M YouTube / ~380K Instagram

YouTubeAfrica travel / positive-Africa docu-vlogs — pan-African reach; strong for travel, fintech & 'made-in-Africa' brands

K

Kwadwo Sheldon ~500K–900K YouTube

YouTube/InstagramYouth pop-culture commentary & comedy ('Yawa of the Day') — one of Ghana's most influential digital voices; very brand-friendly

S

Sweet Adjeley ~1.4M YouTube

YouTubeGhanaian cooking tutorials — food/FMCG & kitchen-brand relevance

J

Jessica OS ~1.4M YouTube

YouTube/InstagramLifestyle, beauty & family vlogs — female-audience & beauty/e-com relevance

F

Father Ankrah ~2.4M YouTube

YouTubeSilent slapstick comedy — mass, language-agnostic reach

Z

Zionfelix ~2M Instagram

Instagram/YouTubeEntertainment blogger & celebrity-news host — showbiz/PR & product placements

Celebrities

J

Jackie Appiah ~11M Instagram

Actress (Ghallywood/Nollywood) — Ghana's most-followed celebrity, top brand ambassador

Sarkodie ~5.0M Instagram

Rapper — most decorated Ghanaian hip-hop artist, telecom/brand deals

N

Nana Ama McBrown ~5.1M Instagram

Actress & TV host (UTV 'United Showbiz') — huge mainstream female appeal

Stonebwoy ~4.4M Instagram

Dancehall/afrobeats star — pan-African & diaspora reach

Shatta Wale ~4.1M Instagram

Dancehall superstar — controversial, massive youth following

Black Sherif ~1.2M Instagram

Singer/rapper — breakout global star ('Kwaku the Traveller'), Gen-Z icon

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals

• Sports betting / iGaming (football-driven — the #1 vertical among young men)
• Fintech — mobile-money, loan/nano-credit apps & remittances
• E-commerce COD (phones/gadgets, fashion, beauty, home)
• Nutra / health COD (weight, potency, beauty — FDA-restricted, grey)
• Airtime/data, VAS, app installs & sweepstakes
• Dating (mainstream/heterosexual only)
• Crypto/trading (rising, now regulated)

Active networks

• iGaming/betting operator programs (Betway, SportyBet, MSport, 1xBet Partners, Melbet, Betwinner — very active in Ghana)
• Push/pop & CPA networks (Adsterra, PropellerAds, RichAds)
• CPA/nutra networks (Dr.Cash, CPA Kitchen, 3SNET, Alfaleads)
• Jumia Ghana affiliate/seller program (e-commerce)
• Global CPA networks (Mobidea, Zeydoo, ClickDealer) — no significant local networks

Payouts

• Tier-3 low payouts — betting FTD CPA ~$5–25 (RevShare common given LTV)
• finance/loan CPL ~$0.5–3
• nutra/e-com COD have thin margins & watch COD-rejection rates
• CPI/CPL are cheap

Competition

• Moderate
• the betting vertical is very crowded with aggressive operator budgets
• Lower-tier market means smaller budgets but cheaper CPMs/traffic than Tier-1

Seasonality

• Peak Dec ('Detty December' — diaspora inflows, salaries/bonuses)
• football calendars (AFCON, EPL weekends, World Cup 2026) spike betting
• Ramadan slows the north

Traffic sources

• Facebook / Meta ads
• TikTok (ads & organic)
• Google / YouTube
• Push & pop (PropellerAds, RichAds, Adsterra)
• Telegram & WhatsApp channels
• Influencer / KOL shoutouts (music & football)
• SMS

Good to know

Capital

Accra

Major cities

• Accra
• Kumasi
• Tamale
• Sekondi-Takoradi
• Cape Coast
• Sunyani
• Ho
• Koforidua

Time zones

Single zone — GMT (UTC+0), no daylight saving

Android vs iOS

70% 30%

Android 70% iOS 30%

Phone brands

• Apple (~30% web-usage share)
• Samsung (~25%)
• Tecno (~13%)
• Infinix (~7%)
• Huawei (~5%)
• itel/others — Transsion trio (Tecno+Infinix+itel) leads real unit sales; StatCounter overstates Apple

Top e-commerce

• Jumia Ghana (dominant marketplace — COD + JumiaPay)
• Jiji Ghana (classifieds; owns Tonaton)
• Tonaton
• Melcom Online (retail chain)
• Kikuu (China-import app)
• CompuGhana / Franko Trading (electronics)

Peak activity

Evenings ~19:00–22:00 GMT (after work) and weekday lunch ~12:00–14:00; weekend afternoons; end-of-month payday & football match-nights spike betting/social

Creative taboos

• LGBTQ+ themes (criminalised & extremely high-risk — avoid entirely)
• disrespect to Christianity or Islam
• nudity/explicit content
• keep alcohol imagery away from the Muslim north
• avoid political/ethnic (NPP vs NDC, north–south) provocation

Also worth knowing

1. Sports betting is the killer affiliate vertical — football mania + instant MTN MoMo deposits;
2. MTN MoMo is the payment rail you MUST support (20M+ wallets, ~73%+ share) — it doubles as a COD alternative & micro-deposit tool;
3. audience is extremely young (median 21.3) & mobile-first, but note the unusually high StatCounter desktop share;
4. English creatives work nationwide, but Pidgin/Twi references lift engagement & authenticity;
5. 'Detty December' (diaspora + bonuses) is the single biggest spending window