During his election campaign, President John Dramani Mahama made clear and repeated commitments to overhaul Ghana’s import tax structure, focusing specifically on commercial vehicles, industrial machinery, and port tariffs. These sectors carry enormous weight for diaspora investors, transport operators, manufacturing entrepreneurs, and small businesses that rely on affordable access to vehicles and equipment. His promises were not vague political gestures, but explicit policy positions delivered across rallies, media engagements, and the NDC 2024 Manifesto. They formed a central pillar of his economic transformation agenda, especially for Ghanaians abroad seeking to invest back home.
Throughout the campaign trail, Mahama emphasized that Ghana’s import duty regime had become punitive, unpredictable, and economically counterproductive. He argued that excessive taxes on buses, sprinter vans, cargo trucks, and industrial machinery were suffocating business growth, discouraging diaspora investment, and inflating transportation costs nationwide. In late 2023 and throughout 2024, he pledged to reverse the ban on certain used vehicle imports and drastically reduce duties on commercial vehicles. He stated that returning Ghanaians often found it impossible to acquire vehicles due to steep taxes, and that transport operators were being forced to pass these costs onto passengers, worsening the cost of living crisis.
In December 2024, shortly after his election victory, Mahama reaffirmed his commitment to eliminate burdensome port taxes within his first one hundred to one hundred twenty days in office. He promised to rationalize port clearance fees, remove duties on vehicles imported for industrial and agricultural use, and ease shipping costs for diaspora investors. He also pledged duty free and tax free importation of capital equipment and machinery for businesses registered under national initiatives such as the twenty four hour economy policy. This was intended to stimulate manufacturing, agro processing, and large scale production by removing one of the biggest barriers to industrial expansion.
Investigative analysis shows that Mahama has begun honoring these promises through legislative action and executive approvals. One of the earliest steps was the approval of import duty waivers for returning foreign service officers and envoys. This policy relieved returning citizens in state service of heavy vehicle tariffs, signaling the administration’s intention to extend similar relief to broader categories of returning Ghanaians.
The government also enacted significant tax amendments through the ten bills recently signed into law. These included changes to the Customs Act, Income Tax Act, VAT Act, and Excise Act. The amendments restructure import tariffs, close loopholes that previously enabled revenue losses, and reduce production costs for local industries and agro processors. Investigators note that these reforms are part of a larger fiscal strategy aimed at balancing revenue protection with economic stimulation.
Under the twenty four hour economy initiative, Mahama officially granted duty free and tax free importation of capital equipment and industrial machinery. This policy directly benefits diaspora investors seeking to establish factories, processing plants, or agricultural ventures in Ghana. By removing heavy entry port duties, the administration has lowered the cost of setting up industrial operations, making Ghana more competitive in attracting foreign and diaspora investment.
While full exemptions for all private personal vehicles imported by diaspora citizens remain tied to ongoing customs reforms, the government is strongly encouraged to accelerate this final phase of policy implementation. Diaspora investors and returning Ghanaians continue to face steep costs at the ports, and a timely completion of these reforms would deliver the full relief that was promised. Speeding up this process will not only honor the administration’s commitments, but also strengthen confidence, stimulate investment, and deepen national support for the broader economic transformation agenda.
The investigative conclusion is clear. President Mahama’s administration has begun implementing the core components of his import duty reform agenda. Commercial vehicle duties have been reduced, industrial machinery has been exempted, port fees have been rationalized, and legislative amendments have reshaped the fiscal landscape. The broader customs overhaul remains in progress, but the foundational promises made to diaspora investors, transport operators, and industrial entrepreneurs have been honored through concrete policy actions.
