How procurement works in Ghana

Ghana is one of the most active public procurement markets in West Africa. Government tenders, donor-funded programmes and public enterprise contracts all follow published rules — but the practical knowledge of how to win those contracts is unevenly distributed.

This guide is written for teams bidding into Ghana who do not have a dedicated compliance function. Public sections are free to read. Detailed sections require a free Mansa account. Full reference material is available to paid subscribers.

Ghana's public procurement is governed primarily by the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663), as amended by Act 914 (2016). The Public Procurement Authority (PPA) oversees enforcement and publishes standard tender documents.

• Competitive tender is the default method.
• Restricted tender and single-source procurement require PPA approval above certain thresholds.
• All public entities must maintain and publish an annual procurement plan.

• PPA tender notice portal — statutory publication for central government tenders above the national threshold.
• Newspaper of record — Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times for tender notices required to be published in print.
• Procuring entity websites — ministries, agencies and public enterprises often publish tenders on their own portals.

• Missing or expired VAT and tax clearance certificates.
• Bid security wrongly formatted or with insufficient validity.
• Bid submitted after the deadline, however marginally.
• Financial proposal in the wrong envelope or currency.
• Wrong reference to the tender number or lot number.