Remote Work

Working Remotely in Ghana

Ghana has become an increasingly popular destination for remote workers and digital nomads, particularly from the African diaspora. While there's no specific digital nomad visa, the welcoming atmosphere and improving infrastructure make it viable.

Visa Considerations for Remote Workers

Current Situation:

• No specific digital nomad visa
• Tourist visa: 60-90 days, extendable
• Work permit required for local employment only
• Remote work for foreign companies in gray area legally
• Many remote workers use tourist visa + extensions
• Right of Abode ideal for long-term digital nomads of African descent

Recommended Approach:

• Short-term (3 months): Tourist visa, can extend
• Medium-term (6-12 months): Multiple-entry business visa
• Long-term (1+ years): Right of Abode (if eligible) or work permit through local entity

Internet Infrastructure

Quality:

• Urban areas: Good and improving
• Fiber available in Accra, Kumasi, major cities
• Mobile data reliable as backup
• Rural areas: Limited, improving

Providers:

Reliability: Generally reliable in cities, occasional outages

Backup Essential:

• Mobile data from different provider
• MTN and Vodafone most reliable for mobile
• Data bundles affordable (GHS 100/$9 for 30GB)

Coworking Spaces (Accra)

Impact Hub Accra

• Location: Osu
• Facilities: Hot desks, meeting rooms, event space
• Community: Active, diverse
• Cost: GHS 500-1,200 ($45-108) monthly

iSpace

• Location: Labone
• Focus: Tech startups
• Facilities: Hot desks, private offices
• Cost: GHS 400-1,000 ($36-90) monthly

MEST Africa

• Location: East Legon
• Focus: Entrepreneurship and technology
• Training programs available

The Executive Space

• Location: Airport Residential
• Professional environment
• Meeting rooms, hot desks
• Cost: GHS 600-1,500 ($54-135) monthly

Other Options:

• Hotel lobbies (Alisa Hotel, Movenpick)
• Cafes with WiFi (Vienna City, Patisserie Royale)
• Serviced offices

Power Considerations

Critical Issue: Power outages ("dumsor" in local parlance)

Frequency: Improved significantly but still occurs

• Scheduled outages less common now
• Unexpected outages still happen
• Worse during dry season (December-February)

Solutions:

• Inverter system (battery backup): 4-8 hours backup, quieter
• Generator: Unlimited runtime but noisy, fuel costs
• UPS: For short outages, computer protection
• Solar+battery: Growing option, higher upfront cost

Costs:

• Small generator: $300-800
• Inverter system: $500-2,000
• Monthly fuel (if generator): GHS 200-500 ($18-45)

Time Zone Advantages

Ghana is on GMT (UTC+0):

• Perfect for European clients (same or 1-hour difference)
• Workable for US East Coast (5 hours ahead)
• Challenging for US West Coast (8 hours ahead)
• Good overlap with Middle East and Africa

Banking and Payments

Receiving International Payments:

• Wire transfer to Ghanaian bank: $15-40 fee
• Wise, WorldRemit: Lower fees
• Payoneer: Popular among freelancers
• Cryptocurrency: Growing but less common

MoMo for Local Payments: Essential for daily expenses

Networking and Community

Expat Groups:

• Year of Return diaspora community
• Tech meetups (Ghana Tech Lab, Developer meetups)
• Facebook: "Digital Nomads Ghana", "Expats in Accra"
• Impact Hub and iSpace events

Industries with Remote Workers:

• Tech/software development
• Digital marketing
• Content creation
• Consulting
• Online education