Accra Business & Housing Infrastructure

Hello Marcio and welcome to Expat.com!

Do not hesitate to browse through the forum, it may help.

Harmonie.

PS: Happy New Year!

You are asking a lot of questions and it all depends on your budget as if you want to live and work in a good central location in Accra like Osu or Labone then you are going to have to pay a substantial amount. There are a lot of nice complexes with pools etc and you will be paying US 2000+ per calendar month depending on the size of the accommodation. If you move further out say East Legon or Airport Residential you might get something a bit cheaper. Not sure about the rates for offices but again you are looking at Osu if you want a central location.
There are beaches in Accra itself which get crowded at the weekends. You can go about 45 mins out of Accra and find many others. The only drawback at the moment is the major roadworks on that side of Accra which can add 2+ hours to the journey.
Depending where you live you can get a very good internet connection through iburst which is what we use but a friend who lives in Labone found it wasn't suitable but he has now another business connection which he has found very good. I am sure you will find good internet services here.
Good Luck with your move.

@Hkan

Thanks for the insights, they're very helpfull indeed.

I dont mind working in Osu or Labone and live a bit out the suburb, 10 miles tops (given it doesnt take me 2 hours driving to work each morning). If this is doable, where would you recommend for a nice condo a bit on the suburb?

Depending where is best  to open the office (Osu or Labone) what i'm looking for is a nice building with good working conditions, i.e. fully furnished office or needing minimum furnittue and office machines, it should have safe parking/garage and quick acess to the business center of Accra, i.e. restaurants, supermarkets, banks, etc. Safety is a big concern as well. Are these areas safe during day/night?

Thanks once again for the kind insight.

Happy New Year!

I have no idea how you go about finding an office and I am not sure if they come with furniture or not but I expect there are agents who will help you with that sort of thing.
Getting in an out of Accra at peak times can take a couple of hours but you will get cheaper housing if you live further out.
By most standards Ghana is a very safe place to live as long as you take the sort of precautions you would in your own country.

Thanks Hkan.

One more question if you allow me. Can you lease a car in Accra or you have to buy?

Kind regards

I think you can hire, not sure if you can lease.

Regarding income tax I understand this is 30% above incomes of $5,400 Cedi per year. Is there any other taxes paid by individuals like Social Security? In terms of international banks transfers, is there a devloped internet banking system in place, i.e. can you transfer funds out of Ghana easily?

Thanks again for your kind help.

Hi and Happy New Year!

I lived at Reggie Manual Estates which was just at the middle point of Spintex Rd.on the outerskirts of Accra. It was very close to all Amenities and you would expect nothing less with the President of Ghana living in that particular compound as well at the time. The traffic will always be bad so I think that should be the least of your worries The rent for a upscale house 3 years ago was running around the 1200 US dollar range/month which is decent I felt. It takes a lot of work to keep the houses up as dust, heavy rain and bugs can make your life a little uncomfortable if you dont keep up on it. You can usually find some local people to hire but do your homework when doing that as well. If you can adapt to the way of life on the outside of your home, you can have a very comfortable life in Ghana.

Good Luck