The Ghana Stock Exchange has been ranked as the best-performing stock market in Africa for 2024, and early data from the first quarter of 2025 shows it remains on the same trajectory, according to a high-level delegation from Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The disclosure was made during a courtesy visit to Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Victor Emmanuel Smith, led by SEC Deputy Director-General Mensah Thompson.

The meeting, which took place in Washington, D.C., focused on the exchange’s remarkable performance, the role of the diaspora in national development, and the growing opportunities for investors eyeing Ghana’s economic recovery.

“The Ghana Stock Exchange was the best in Africa in 2024, and this year, even within the first quarter, the exchange remains the best performing in Africa,” Thompson told the Ambassador.

He attributed the strong performance to declining inflation, improving economic stability, and lower interest rates—conditions that have made Ghana’s capital markets increasingly attractive to investors seeking stronger returns than those available in more saturated markets.

Ambassador Calls for Diaspora and Foreign Capital

Ambassador Smith welcomed the news and used the platform to make a direct appeal to wealthy Ghanaians abroad and foreign investors. He argued that channelling diaspora resources and “American big pockets” back into Ghana would create jobs and reduce the economic pressure that drives many young Ghanaians to seek opportunities overseas.

“We can partner with some of these American big pockets and take advantage of the opportunities we are offering back home,” Smith said.

He revealed that his office, working alongside the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), is actively organising investor presentations and forums to showcase Ghana’s investment climate. He urged the SEC delegation to participate in all business engagements organised by the Embassy.

“My emphasis is on taking Ghanaians with you, encouraging those in the diaspora to invest and return home to help build the country,” he added.

Licensed Platforms and Investor Protection

Dorothy Yeboah-Asiamah, the SEC’s Head of International Relations, addressed the growing interest among Ghanaians abroad in investing in local securities. She urged potential investors to use only licensed and regulated platforms to protect their funds and strengthen overall market confidence.

“We have licensed brokers and investment schemes that allow people abroad to safely invest in securities in Ghana, and we want more members of the diaspora to take advantage of these opportunities,” she said.

The SEC delegation to Washington also included Peter McNamara (Policy Research Unit), Emmanuel Darko (Broker Dealers and Advisers), Richard Dusi (Head of Fintech and Innovation), and Marilyn Lamiokor-Mills (Board Secretariat).

The visit underscores Ghana’s aggressive push to position itself as a premier investment destination in Africa, leveraging its capital markets as a key pillar of economic transformation.

An economist-turned-farm owner is pulling back the curtain on her ambitious plan to build a $1 million+ farm ecosystem in Ghana, one that aims to “change the narrative of the African farmer.”

In a series of candid and often humorous posts on Instagram, Dr. Nana Adowaa Boateng shows the world how she is navigating the very real, unfiltered chaos of rural agribusiness.

The entrepreneur, whose journey is documented under the handle @thetalkingdrumchocolate, and under themes like “The Curious Case of a Bougie African Economist…Turned Confused Farmer,“ is challenging the polished perception of modern farming. From negotiating land purchases under cashew trees to paying for farmland with cash in a plastic bag, her story is as unconventional as it is refreshingly honest.

“I make chocolate not in a factory but in a kitchen island with a view,” she writes, juxtaposing the “soft life” dream of air conditioning and iced caramel lattes with the gritty reality of drying cocoa beans beside her swimming pool, and questioning her life decisions.

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A post shared by Nana | Farm to Chocolate (@talkingdrumchocolate)

A System in Progress

The posts reveal a multi-layered ambition. While one image shows the tagline, “I am building a $1M+ farm ecosystem in Ghana. You’re just seeing it early. Follow the journey to see how it turns out,” another points out that this is more than a personal venture: “But it’s also giving – a system in progress to change the narrative of the African farmer.”

However, the journey is far from typical. The farmer admits she was never fully ready for farm life—arriving at the property not in a pickup truck but in a Mercedes—while openly questioning her decisions with hashtags like #farmlifeisnotthesoftlife and #chaaai. Yet, that confusion is presented as a strength: “Because nothing about an economist turned farm owner turned chocolate maker is normal.”

As interest grows in locally sourced, artisanal chocolate and value-added agricultural exports from West Africa, this economist’s leap of faith stands as both a cautionary tale and an inspiration.

She is not waiting for the perfect conditions, she is building, one cash-filled plastic bag and one dried cocoa bean at a time, while inviting the world to watch.

Dr. Boateng is also a writer and international development specialist with experience across South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana, the US, and France.

For decades, foreign investment in Africa has followed a familiar pattern: land, real estate, and natural resource extraction. But a new wave of data suggests that the continent’s most lucrative opportunities lie elsewhere, in solving everyday problems that billions of dollars have overlooked.

While affordable housing and commercial real estate remain viable entry points, investors seeking higher returns and deeper impact are increasingly turning to five sectors where demand already outstrips supply, and where local competition has yet to catch up. These are not speculative bets on future trends. They are responses to problems Africans experience every single day.

Here are the top five sectors to consider, based on current market data.

1. Agri-Food Processing: Capturing the Value That Is Being Exported

Africa grows some of the world’s finest cocoa, cashews, and coffee. Then it exports those crops raw—at the lowest possible price—only to import back processed, packaged, and branded food at 10 to 20 times the markup. The continent is effectively paying someone else to add value to its own products.

The numbers are striking: Africa currently imports $50 billion worth of processed food every year. That represents a massive opportunity to build processing facilities on the continent itself, capturing margins that are currently exported overseas. Investors in agri-food processing are seeing annual returns between 20 and 35 percent, and the demand is already present.

The opportunity: Build the mills, roasteries, and packaging plants that turn raw commodities into finished goods—right where the crops are grown.

2. Waste Management and Recycling: Getting Paid Twice

African cities generate an estimated 174 billion tons of waste annually. Less than half of that is properly collected. Of the waste that is technically recyclable—roughly 7 percent—only about 4 percent actually gets recycled.

The business model is straightforward: collect, sort, and sell to processors. Companies in this sector get paid twice—once for the collection service and again for the sale of recyclable materials. Barriers to entry are relatively low, and revenue is recurring. As urban populations continue to grow, the waste stream only expands.

The opportunity: Build collection networks and sorting facilities in underserved urban centers, turning a mounting environmental crisis into a predictable revenue stream.

3. Last-Mile Logistics: Moving E-Commerce’s Next Wave

African e-commerce exploded from $27 billion in 2020 to $75 billion in 2025. But the delivery infrastructure—particularly last-mile logistics—has not kept pace. Addresses across numerous countries remain informal. Roads are congested. Traditional courier services charge rates that exceed what most people earn in a day.

The fix is already visible in cities across the continent: motorcycle and tricycle fleets. Someone has to move the packages that millions of new online shoppers are ordering, and that someone can be an investor-backed logistics operation. With e-commerce projected to continue its rapid growth, the demand for reliable, affordable delivery will only intensify.

The opportunity: Build or scale fleets of two- and three-wheeled delivery vehicles, paired with route optimization technology, to serve the continent’s booming online retail sector.

4. Solar Energy Services: Powering 600 Million People Off the Grid

Across Africa, an estimated 600 million people have no reliable access to electricity. Paradoxically, many of them are already paying more for energy—through kerosene, diesel generators, and batteries—than those connected to the grid. The costs are higher, the air is more polluted, and the service is less reliable.

The good news is that solar costs have dropped by approximately 90 percent in the last decade. This makes decentralized solar systems economically viable for households, clinics, and small businesses that have never been connected to a national grid. Customers can pay via mobile money, creating a recurring revenue model that scales. The infrastructure gap is huge, and the social impact is profound.

The opportunity: Install pay-as-you-go solar systems for off-grid households and businesses, combining clean energy with mobile payment technology.

5. Digital Services for Local Businesses: Serving Millions of New Internet Users

By 2030, an estimated 60 percent of Africans will be online with full internet access. That represents hundreds of millions of new internet users who will need services, information, and commerce platforms. But local businesses—clinics, restaurants, boutiques, tradespeople—largely lack websites, social media presence, or digital marketing capabilities.

This gap creates an opportunity for digital service providers: build the platforms, offer the training, and manage the online presence for small and medium enterprises that are otherwise invisible to the new wave of connected consumers. The sector is scalable, low-capital relative to infrastructure plays, and positioned at the intersection of two massive trends: digital adoption and small-business growth.

The opportunity: Launch digital agencies, SaaS platforms, or training programs that help millions of local businesses establish an online presence and access digital customers.

Why These Sectors Work Now

What unites these five sectors is not glamour or hype. They are, in many ways, “boring” and “unsexy” businesses. But they solve problems that people experience every single day: hunger (food processing), waste (recycling), delivery (logistics), darkness (solar energy), and invisibility (digital services).

These are not future bets or speculative technologies. The demand is already here. The margins are proven. And for investors willing to look beyond real estate, the returns—both financial and social—are substantial.