{
  "id": 1872367,
  "title": "Study calls for policies to address barriers facing immigrant entrepreneurship",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/study-calls-for-policies-to-address-barriers-facing-immigrant",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-08-19T05:10:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Ghana Business News",
    "slug": "ghana-business-news",
    "url": "https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2026/08/19/study-calls-for-policies-to-address-barriers-facing-immigrant-entrepreneurship/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent study has emphasized the need for policy reforms to tackle the financial, regulatory, and market barriers encountered by West African immigrant entrepreneurs in Ghana. The research, titled \"Navigation Strategies of West African Immigrant Entrepreneurs in a Secondary Ghanaian City,\" was conducted in Wa Municipality by Omar Faruq Mahmudul-Hasan, Professor Elijah Yendaw, and Professor Moses Naiim Fuseini from the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS). The study, carried out in 2025, examined immigrant-owned small businesses that had been operating in Wa for at least a year. The researchers interviewed 37 participants, including 32 immigrant entrepreneurs from Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali, as well as five key institutional informants.\n\nThe findings revealed that immigrant entrepreneurs had adapted alternative financial, regulatory, market, and transnational strategies to navigate the challenges within the local business environment. These adaptations included utilizing supplier-credit systems, pooling resources to meet investment thresholds, and engaging specialized agents to manage cross-border logistics. Immigrant entrepreneurs also demonstrated their commitment to integrating into the local market by learning local languages and customs, establishing personal connections with customers, and avoiding sectors reserved exclusively for Ghanaian citizens.\n\nIn light of these findings, the study recommends a multi-faceted approach to policy reforms. It stresses the need for stronger coordination among national regulatory institutions, the local assembly, and financial institutions to create an enabling environment for immigrant entrepreneurs. The authors also suggest revisiting the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) investment threshold, as well as introducing a tiered system for ECOWAS nationals to ensure that investment requirements do not inadvertently exclude small-scale immigrant traders. Additionally, the study advocates for a re-evaluation of the Ghana Card requirement for banking access, arguing that it contributes to the exclusion of immigrant entrepreneurs from formal financial services. Lastly, the report encourages financial institutions to develop products that recognize alternative forms of collateral and credit histories, including the supplier-credit arrangements commonly used by immigrant entrepreneurs.",
  "summary": "A study on immigrant entrepreneurship has called for coordinated policy reforms to address financial, regulatory, market and institutional barriers confronting West African immigrant entrepreneurs operating in Ghana. The post Study calls for policies to address barriers facing immigrant entrepreneurship appeared first on Ghana Business News .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}