Accra’s perfect storm: 38% of GDP, 86% of FDI, but just 1.4% of land, NDPC warns overconcentration is flooding the capital.
The Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Dr Nii Moi Thompson, has warned that the excessive concentration of economic activities, population and investment in Greater Accra are worsening flooding and other urban challenges in the capital. He explained that Greater Accra Region currently contributes about 38 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and attracted approximately 86 per cent of the country’s foreign direct investment (FDI), despite occupying only about 1.4 per cent of the nation’s land area. Dr Thompson described the situation as a “perfect storm” in which economic opportunities, investments and population growth had become heavily concentrated in a limited geographical space, placing enormous pressure on infrastructure and the environment. Appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Economy and Development in Accra on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, Dr Thompson stated that the region had become the most populous region in the country, with a population density of about 1,680 people per square kilometre compared to roughly 300 people per square kilometre in the Ashanti Region.
