Twelve of Ghana’s 16 regions remain either “mostly unfree” or “repressed” in terms of entrepreneurship freedom, according to the 2026 Regional Entrepreneurship Freedom (REF) Index.
The report, produced by the Africa Centre for Entrepreneurship and Youth Empowerment (ACEYE), ranks the country’s regions based on a range of indicators measuring the conditions under which businesses operate, including trade freedom, fiscal freedom, regulation, investment freedom, technological freedom, property rights and freedom from corruption.
Eastern Region emerged as the best-performing region, recording a score of 6.82 and placing first overall in the “moderately free” category. Volta Region followed with 6.61, while Greater Accra placed third with 6.48. North East Region completed the top four with a score of 6.23.
However, nine regions were classified as “mostly unfree”, while Ashanti, Upper East and Northern fell into the report’s “repressed” category.
Northern Region recorded the lowest overall score at 2.79, followed by Upper East with 4.19 and Ashanti with 4.70.
The report said the findings nevertheless represent an improvement over previous editions, with most regions recording higher scores.
ACEYE said the index is intended to help policymakers identify barriers to entrepreneurship and develop reforms that create more competitive business environments. Its methodology was based on responses from 3,200 entrepreneurs, with 200 respondents selected from each of the 16 regions.
The findings also point to significant differences in the conditions businesses face across the country, raising questions about whether entrepreneurs outside the major economic centres have equal access to opportunities, government services and supportive policies.
ACEYE’s founding CEO, Emmanuel Acquah, said the next challenge should be to move the entrepreneurship conversation from broad national economic indicators to the practical conditions confronting businesses at the regional level.
“Usually, when you talk about economics, you’re always looking at the macro stuff. But what about the micro?” he said.
The report recommends a Regional Entrepreneurship Freedom Act to give regions greater autonomy to create business-friendly environments while maintaining common standards across the country.
Ghana|Atinkaonline.com|Mavis Fantevi
