The depreciation of the Ghanaian cedi against the dollar may appear to present a quick way of earning more on your property by pricing the apartment for rent or the house for sale in dollars, but this, in the long run, may cause more harm than good. Below are a few reasons why:

It Contributes to the Depreciation of the Ghanaian Currency (cedis)

Pricing your property in foreign currencies or at the current dollar rate is detrimental to the cedi. As the value of the cedi against such foreign currency continues to fall, it increases the price of the property in cedis and may prompt more resourceful clients to attempt to make the payment in the currency in which the property is priced, which will result in increased demand for that currency and further exacerbate the problem. As a result, the more real estate developers, agents, and homeowners continue to price their properties in dollars, the weaker the cedi becomes, affecting the economy as a whole.

It Complicates Simple Business Transactions Unnecessarily

Most of the time, before a transaction between buyers and sellers can take place, the rates must be converted in favour of whoever is paying. For example, a home-buyer interested in purchasing a house for sale priced in dollars must first convert the amount to cedis before making payment.

Now, this process could take a week or two to complete, but due to the instability of the cedi in current times, the rate agreed upon yesterday may not be applicable today, and both sides may have a harder time agreeing on the amount to pay. For this reason, pricing (after conversion) fluctuates, changing according to the exchange rate and, thereby, complicating the transaction unnecessarily.

Interest Rates Continue to Rise With Public Debt

In case it was missed earlier, pricing your property in dollars will only worsen the cedi’s value. Government shall have to borrow more if they cannot come up with self-reliant means of controlling the exchange rate, and the Bank of Ghana (BoG) will have to raise interest rates in order to help control inflation, which will only add to the country’s debt.

Providing Goods & Services in Dollars is Against the Laws of Ghana

In April of 2022, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) issued a warning (based on the Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723)) against pricing goods and services in dollars and other foreign currencies. According to BoG’s statement, agencies, organisations, and businesses that violate the law will be investigated by law enforcement and dealt with accordingly.

Finally, despite the fact that commodities, materials, and import duties have skyrocketed, pricing your property in dollars, as explained above, makes it difficult for the average Ghanaian to rent, buy, or invest.

It is hard times, however, you can do your part to help the nation as a whole. As the saying goes “little drops of water make a mighty ocean”, so doing your part by not encouraging the use of foreign currency will eventually catch on with other entrepreneurs leading to a collective effort to help give the cedi value which will serve to benefit entrepreneurs and the average Ghanaian as well in the long run.

Home-buyers can also show support by using property search websites like meqasa.com which comply with the BoG’s directive to only list prices in cedis. You can find affordable housing for rent or purchase in Ghanaian currency from such sites.