Political & Economic Relations
In 1957, Ghana became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence. That same year saw the formation of the European Union. The Republic of Ghana and Europe are bound together by common history, interlocking cultures and shared objectives. The Republic of Ghana and Europe are bound together by common history, interlocking cultures and shared objectives. We have a long history of a prosperous partnership enhanced by an existing framework for political dialogue between EU and Ghana. This practice has been strengthened under the 2nd revision of the Cotonou Agreement. Now the political dialogue is taking a new dimension under the EU Lisbon Treaty.
Ghana has achieved outstanding progress in democracy and the conduct of electoral processes. The December 2008 elections saw the victory of the former opposition party (NDC) in Parliament and the NDC flag-bearer, Professor John Evans Atta Mills was elected President. This was the second peaceful transfer of power between the major political parties (in 2000 and 2008) and marked another step forward in consolidating multi-party democracy in Ghana. Ghana is deepening even further its democratic process, with a new decentralisation Policy Framework adopted in June 2010 and an ongoing constitutional review.
The political system is dominated by National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP). Presidential elections are conducted simultaneously with parliamentary elections. The President is directly elected by the people of Ghana. The country is divided into ten administrative regions and into 170 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies for purpose of local government.
In line with the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Development 
[317 KB] , other platforms for dialogue and coordination among Development Partners (DPs) have been established in Ghana: the Heads of Mission (HoM) and the Heads of Cooperation (HoC) Groups. These groups allow Development Partners (DPs) to coordinate among themselves in order to jointly align their development programmes and activities to national priorities and strategies.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Ghana has increased significantly in the past few years. EU countries that feature in the top ten investor countries in Ghana include United Kingdom, France and Italy. Records also show that in the last few years, new investments in Ghana have been predominantly in the service, manufacturing and building & construction sectors. FDI for the 2010 is expected to be boosted by investments in the offshore oil sector.
Ghana is currently ranked 67th out of 183 countries in the 2011 World Bank's Doing Business (DB) Report and. identified among the 10 economies that made the largest strides in making their regulatory environment more favourable to business. Over the years, Ghana has improved in areas regarding simplification of registration formalities and eliminating long and unnecessary procedure.