Nigeria was Ghana’s biggest source of imports from Africa in the first quarter of 2026, accounting for nearly one-third of all goods Ghana bought from the continent.
Data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) shows that Ghana imported goods worth GH¢8.7 billion from African countries during the period, with Nigeria alone contributing GH¢2.9 billion.
That gives Nigeria a 32.9% share of Ghana’s total imports from Africa.
Togo was the second-largest source, supplying 18.9% of Ghana’s imports from the continent, followed by Côte d’Ivoire with 16.8%.
South Africa accounted for 12.3%, while Morocco contributed 5.6%.
Together, these five countries supplied 86.5% of Ghana’s imports from Africa during the quarter, showing that Ghana’s import trade on the continent is concentrated among a relatively small number of markets.
The figures also show that petroleum products were a major part of Ghana’s imports from several of these countries.
Fuels and oils accounted for 80.3% of Ghana’s imports from Nigeria.
The commodity was even more dominant in Ghana’s imports from Côte d’Ivoire, where it represented 84.2%, and from Togo, where it made up 79.2%.
South Africa, however, had a different import profile, with machinery and electrical equipment accounting for 25.6% of Ghana’s imports from that country.
Despite the concentration on a few suppliers, Ghana maintained a trade surplus with Africa in the first quarter.
The GSS says Ghana’s exports to Africa reached GH¢21.0 billion, compared with GH¢8.7 billion in imports.
This means Ghana exported substantially more to African markets than it imported from them during the period.
The Service also reported that Ghana’s exports to Africa have exceeded imports since the fourth quarter of 2024, with the trade surplus reaching its highest level in the first quarter of 2026.
