By Lord Logo Stephen
On April 20, 2026, the Bank of Ghana issued a clarification that has since set off a wave of celebration among Ghana’s growing community of digital content creators. The central bank stated that payouts received by Ghanaian content creators from digital platforms including earnings from X, YouTube, and TikTok are classified as service export proceeds, and that such inflows are permitted under existing foreign exchange regulations.
Many creators and commentators have interpreted this to mean one thing, they do not have to pay tax. That interpretation is wrong. And if left unchallenged, it will cost Ghana dearly.
Let us be precise about what the Bank of Ghana actually said.
The Bank of Ghana is Ghana’s central bank and monetary authority. Its mandate covers foreign exchange regulation, monetary policy, and financial system stability. It does not administer income tax. That is the exclusive domain of the Ghana Revenue Authority, operating under the Income Tax Act. What the BoG classified for foreign exchange purposes as “service export proceeds” says nothing whatsoever about tax liability. These are two entirely separate legal frameworks. A Ghanaian who earns dollars from YouTube has, under foreign exchange law, received export proceeds. Under income tax law, that same person has earned income. Both things are simultaneously true. One classification does not cancel the other.
The BoG’s communiqué was a response to a legitimate problem. Content creators had been unable to access their funds despite the legality of such inflows, and the central bank admitted this was the first time it had publicly recognized the struggles faced by Ghana’s growing community of digital content creators, influencers, and freelancers who rely on international platforms for their livelihoods. That is what the BoG was solving, access to foreign earnings, not tax exemption from them. We must not conflate the two.
Now let us talk about what is actually at stake.
Ghana’s public debt stood at Ghc726.7 billion as of December 31, 2024 per BoG report. We borrow to run a state that cannot collect enough of its own revenue. One of the central reasons for this is that we have allowed a massive portion of our economy to exist entirely outside the tax net. The informal sector accounts for over 80% of Ghana’s workforce yet contributes only 27.4% to GDP. Within this informal economy, one of the fastest-growing segments is the digital creator economy and it remains almost entirely untaxed.
Several Ghanaian creators now earn more through online platforms than many public servants. Notable examples include Wode Maya, Africa’s biggest YouTuber by reach, and Zionfelix, a blogger with millions of views and significant brand deals. These digital entrepreneurs generate income through sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, advertising, merchandise, and promotional features some even earning in foreign currency. Yet their tax contribution remains unclear or non-existent.
This is not about punishing young entrepreneurs. It is about fairness. A teacher who earns Ghc4,000 a month pays PAYE. A trader at Makola who earns Ghc4,000 a month is increasingly in the GRA’s sights. But a content creator earning the equivalent of $3,000 a month, roughly Ghc33,000 at today’s rates, pays nothing. That is not a digital economy. That is a tax haven hiding in plain sight.
What Ghana’s neighbors are already doing.
Nigeria’s Tax Act 2025 explicitly clarifies that digital income, platform payouts, and cryptocurrency payments are within scope of taxation, removing any ambiguity creators might have relied on. Nigerian creators are taxed using the same personal income tax bands as other self-employed individuals. Kenya has gone further, with withholding tax obligations placed directly on digital platforms. Ghana introduced taxes on foreign income earned by residents in 2024. Ghana’s Commissioner General Julie Essiam clarified that this is an expansion and stricter enforcement of the existing tax regime, applicable to any resident who has lived in Ghana for 183 days or more in a year. The legal basis exists. What is missing is consistent enforcement.
A practical framework for taxing the digital economy.
I am not calling for punitive taxation that drives creators underground or out of the country. I am calling for a sensible, enforceable, and fair framework. Here is what I propose:
The GRA should enter into a withholding agreement with Google, Meta, TikTok, and X, requiring these platforms to remit a final withholding tax on earnings paid to Ghanaian accounts. Start at 10%, low enough not to discourage participation, high enough to generate meaningful revenue. Over time, as the system matures, this can be graduated. For online sellers transacting primarily through Mobile Money and social commerce, the GRA should create a dedicated digital commerce desk. Sellers earning above Ghc3,000 a month should be brought into a simple, flat-fee tax arrangement before graduating to the standard graduated rate. The forms must be simple. The process must be digital. The barriers must be low.
To the Bank of Ghana, directly.
Your communiqué served an important purpose: it clarified foreign exchange treatment and signaled support for Ghana’s digital economy. That is commendable. But please do not let that communiqué be misread as a tax exemption. Issue a follow-up clarification, in coordination with the GRA, making clear that the classification of creator earnings as “service export proceeds” carries no bearing on income tax obligations. A creator who receives export proceeds is still a resident individual with taxable income. The two institutions must speak with one voice, or the silence between them becomes a loophole.
Ghana cannot build a nation on borrowed money and a narrow tax base. Every cedi earned in this country — whether from a factory, a shop, or a smartphone — must be accountable to the state that provides the roads, the security, and the stability that makes earning possible. Our content creators are talented. They are entrepreneurial. They are, increasingly, the face of Ghana’s soft power on the global stage. They deserve to be brought into the tax system not as suspects, but as partners with clarity, with fairness, and with respect.
The digital economy is the new gold. It is time we started mining it properly.
Lord Logo Stephen is the author of Landing Your First Job in Ghana. He is a Chartered Accountant, Chartered Tax Practitioner, and Assistant Audit Manager, and is currently pursuing a law degree at the University of Ghana, Legon.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stephenlogo | Email: stephenlogo1@gmail.com | Tel: +233 24 228 6867