Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, Ghana’s Government Statistician, reported that informal cross-border trade is valued GH₵31 billion, accounting for 6% of total trade for the first time.
Ghana and her neighbours, Togo, Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire, engaged in GH¢31 billion in informal cross-border trade between January and September 2025.
He emphasised that it 6% of Ghana’s total trade with the world.
He argues that this development has led to the counting of an economy that was previously unseen.
In contrast to GH¢20.1 billion in formal commerce, informal trade with Togo, Burkina Faso, and Côte d’Ivoire totalled GH¢31 billion between January and September of 2025.
“With our closest neighbours, the trade we were not counting was 1.5 times the size of the trade we were counting,” he stated on Wednesday, July 15.
Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu went on to say that both men and women drive Ghana’s unofficial cross-border trade in different ways.
He stated that during the first three quarters of 2025, women transported more than 60% of imports, while males transported almost 70% of exports. Policies that support this industry must be created with both in mind.
“Ghana’s informal food trade deficit doubled in the first 3 Quarters of 2025, from about GHC400 million in the first quarter to about GH¢800 million in the third, with cooking oil the single largest food import. This is evidence that no food security planner can ignore.”
“Informal trade moves by tricycle, not truck: GH¢2 billion in exports and GHC1.7 billion in imports, on average, across the quarters. Behind these numbers are ordinary Ghanaians, women and men, feeding families, sustaining jobs and keeping markets stocked on both sides of the border,” he said.
He also expressed gratitude to the World Bank, the Ghanaian government, partner organisations, field officers, the diligent GSS personnel, and all the traders who shared their trust during the data collection.
Source: newsthemegh.com