Two Years Upfront

The job came first. The room did not. A young woman who had moved to Accra for work told The High Street Journal what stood between her and a place to live: "I had a good job offer but no money for the rent advance they were asking. They wanted two years."

Ghana's Rent Act 1963 (Act 220) bars landlords from demanding more than six months' rent in advance, and the Rent Control Department enforces it, according to the same report. Two years is four times that limit.

Her sentence sits beside a set of official numbers that read much calmer. Inflation has fallen sharply in a year. Foreign investment has multiplied. Licensed tourism businesses are growing, and the Ghana Statistical Service puts economic growth at 6.0 per cent for 2025 and 6.0 per cent again in the second quarter of 2026.

The price of things

Year-on-year inflation fell to 4.6 per cent in July 2026, from 5.3 per cent in June, according to Graphic Online, reporting Ghana Statistical Service data. A year earlier, in July 2025, the reading was 12.1 per cent. Food and non-alcoholic beverages ran at 3.1 per cent. Non-food inflation, at 6.1 per cent, was nearly double that.

Government Statistician Alhassan Iddrisu said it plainly, as Graphic Online quoted him: "Food prices continue to stabilise, and that is helping to slow overall inflation." The Statistical Service also estimated that more than 86 per cent of Ghana's inflation came from goods and services produced within the country.

The national figure hides wide gaps. In July 2026 the Bono East Region recorded inflation of minus 3.8 per cent. The North East Region recorded 10.8 per cent, the highest in the country, according to Graphic Online. The Bank of Ghana kept its policy rate unchanged at its July meeting for the second consecutive time, citing caution to keep inflation within its 6 to 10 per cent medium-term band.

The newest reading has turned up slightly. The Statistical Service homepage shows year-on-year inflation at 5.2 per cent for September 2026, 0.2 percentage points above August. The same page lists the Prime Building Cost Index at 5.1 per cent for September 2026, up 0.5 points on August.

| Indicator | Figure | Period | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Inflation, year on year | 12.1% | July 2025 | Graphic Online / Ghana Statistical Service | | Inflation, year on year | 4.6% | July 2026 | Graphic Online / Ghana Statistical Service | | Food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation | 3.1% | July 2026 | Graphic Online / Ghana Statistical Service | | Non-food inflation | 6.1% | July 2026 | Graphic Online / Ghana Statistical Service | | Inflation, year on year | 5.2% | September 2026 | Ghana Statistical Service | | Prime Building Cost Index | 5.1% | September 2026 | Ghana Statistical Service | | Unemployment rate | 13.0% | Q3 2025 | Ghana Statistical Service, Labour Force Survey | | Food insecurity | 38.1% | Q3 2025 | Ghana Statistical Service |

Slower inflation means prices are rising more slowly, not coming down. The Statistical Service's other figures cover a wider field. Unemployment stood at 13.0 per cent in the third quarter of 2025, up 0.4 points on the quarter before. Food insecurity was 38.1 per cent in the same quarter, up 2.8 points on the first quarter of 2024. Multidimensional poverty was 21.9 per cent, down 2.0 points on the first quarter of 2025.

Who is building

One official count of new business activity comes from tourism. The Ghana Tourism Authority's 2025 report, as the Ghana News Agency reported it, shows licensed tourism enterprises growing from 6,702 in 2024 to 7,109 in 2025. Travel trade activities expanded by 18.6 per cent, and the entertainment and conference segment by 14.3 per cent. Domestic tourism recorded more than 1.79 million visits at 55 tourist sites.

Foreign money moved faster. The Ghana Investment Promotion Centre's 2025 Annual Investment Report put foreign direct investment inflows at US$2.62 billion, according to MyJoyOnline. In May 2026 GIPC chief executive Simon Madjie had given a provisional figure of US$2.61 billion, against US$652 million in 2024. He described "renewed investor interest in the economy, following significant improvements in macro-economic indicators such as inflation, interest rates, and the exchange rate," MyJoyOnline reported.

GIPC projects 18,748 jobs from the 254 new foreign direct investment projects registered in 2025, once the projects become fully operational. Greater Accra recorded the most projects, 143. The Ashanti Region recorded 18, valued at US$15.99 million. Of the registered projects, 70.72 per cent were wholly foreign-owned and 29.28 per cent were joint ventures. GIPC projects inflows of US$2.8 billion in 2026 and US$3.1 billion in 2027.

Who is arriving

International arrivals rose too, but more slowly. The Ghana Tourism Authority recorded 1,306,962 international arrivals in 2025, up 1.4 per cent on 1,288,804 in 2024, according to the Ghana News Agency. Business travel was the leading purpose of visit, at 31 per cent of arrivals.

The rent

Rent has no line in the table above. The evidence comes from a columnist and from people inside the market. In an opinion column on Modern Ghana dated 8 February 2026, Mustapha Bature Sallama writes that Cantonments, East Legon and Airport Residential Area, "with rents often in the thousands of dollars per month," cater to expatriates and wealthier tenants. He puts the vacancy rate for quality rentals at around 6 to 10 per cent in 2026, and writes: "Landlords frequently demand 1–2 years' rent upfront, far above the six-month legal limit, and it continues with few consequences for violators."

Landlords give their own reasons. A landlady who has rented out rooms for more than 15 years told The High Street Journal why she collects in advance: "The cost of building materials keeps rising, and repairs are expensive. If I collect monthly rent and inflation hits, I lose heavily."

Tenants' representatives say the law is not doing its job. In a 2025 radio appearance the Tenants Association of Ghana said the Rent Control Department fails to protect tenants, The High Street Journal reported. The government introduced the National Rental Assistance Scheme in 2023. At a stakeholder dialogue at the end of November 2025, the housing minister said the government would present a revised rent law intended to curb excessive advances, according to the same report.

Inflation fell by more than half in a year, and the law on the books still says six months. The young woman who came to Accra with a good job offer was asked for more. Two years.

“I had a good job offer but no money for the rent advance they were asking. They wanted two years.”

1. Graphic Online: Inflation falls to 4.6% as food prices ease
2. Ghana Statistical Service
3. Ghana News Agency: GTA releases 2025 Tourism Report
4. MyJoyOnline: Ghana projects 18,748 jobs from 2025 foreign investments
5. MyJoyOnline: FDI inflows hit US$2.61bn in 2025
6. Modern Ghana (opinion): Is rent in Accra favoring tenants or landlords?
7. The High Street Journal: Ghana's Rent Trap