The 2027 Budget, read on Thursday 12 November, says the government "will grant tax incentives to SSNIT to also build by 2030" five hotels. Two would be five-star hotels, in Accra and Kumasi. Three would be "modern, affordable" four-star hotels, for the Cape Coast and Elmina heritage corridor, the Volta Region and Northern Ghana.
The hotels would be SSNIT's to build; the Budget's part is the tax incentives. It names no cost for the hotels and no value for the incentives, and its spending tables for the tourism ministry carry no hotel line. SSNIT, which invests workers' pension contributions, is also to build and run a new international convention centre at the La Trade Fair Centre.
StatsGH calculation from the Ghana Statistical Service Accommodation Occupancy Report, March to June 2025, Figure 4.1.3 table. The 34.3% in the story is the four-month pooled rate for upmarket hotels, 302,396 occupied room-nights out of 881,181 available.
The hotels SSNIT already has
SSNIT already has six hotels in its portfolio. In June 2024, while it was planning to sell 60% of its shares in them to a private company, SSNIT published an article on its own website, credited to Zed Multimedia, that set out their record from documents in the sale process.
Only Labadi Beach Hotel had paid dividends in the last five years, a total of GH¢48.1 million, the article said. La Palm Royal Beach, Elmina Beach, Busua Beach, Ridge Royal and Trust Lodge paid none.
SSNIT had made payments, including shareholder loans, of GH¢233.8 million to La Palm, Elmina and Busua. None of those loans had been serviced.
La Palm made losses in 11 of the 14 years from 2010 to 2023. Elmina and Busua each lost money in nine of those years.
Ridge Royal made losses in all eight years it had operated. Labadi lost money in two.
These figures are now more than two years old. SSNIT's Director-General, Kwesi Afreh Biney, gave an update on JoyNews's PM Express Business Edition, MyJoyOnline reported on 18 June 2026. He said Labadi had "consistently paid dividends year in and year out", and paid "¢17.8 million in dividends for the year 2024".
He said La Palm had made a profit for the first time in years: "It may be small, ¢1.8 million." He said "Elmina today makes losses" and that SSNIT was evaluating tenders from consultants for a five-year turnaround plan for La Palm, Elmina and Busua.
Leasing was one option, but no decision had been taken, he said. "Let me assure the people of Ghana that we will not sell any of our hotel investments."
How full are upmarket hotels?
The Ghana Statistical Service's first Accommodation Occupancy Report covers March to June 2025. By StatsGH's calculation from its tables, Ghana's 3-star to 5-star hotels, which the GSS calls upmarket hotels, filled 34.3% of their available room-nights over those four months: 302,396 occupied out of 881,181 available.
The GSS says hotels of all kinds were about one-third full, while hostels were more than nine-tenths full.
The GSS does not publish a separate figure for four-star or five-star hotels. Occupancy also varies by region: across all types of accommodation, Central Region, home to Cape Coast and Elmina, reached 56.8% in June.
What people on X are saying
@SIKAOFFICIAL1's post of the plan had about 65,900 impressions. In one reply, @AgbelimorK59060 wrote that the minister "is going to use the money to build hotels".
The Budget describes tax incentives for SSNIT, not government spending on the hotels, and names no sum. Another reply, from @Terlabie_, said: "We don't need hotels."
What it means
SSNIT's money comes from pension contributions, so the returns on any new hotels matter to contributors. On the record SSNIT itself published in 2024, one hotel in six paid a dividend over five years; its Director-General says a turnaround has begun.
Related: our report on hotel demand, https://www.statsgh.com/data-and-research/ghana-hotel-room-demand-falls-7-percent-despite-ample-capacity-mv7wtp7p.
We did not ask SSNIT or the Finance Ministry for comment. We found no statement from either on the hotels' cost, funding or the size of the tax incentives.
Limitations
The hotel record is from documents cited in June 2024, during a sale process, and the article does not say exactly which five years it covers; SSNIT's later annual accounts were not checked. The occupancy figures cover four months of 2025 only; a GSS report for July to October 2025 has since been published and was not used here. "Upmarket" includes 3-star hotels.
Sources: Ministry of Finance, 2027 Budget Statement and Economic Policy, 12 Nov 2026, paras 419–423; Appendix 4A 2027 [Economic Sector – GOG] (printed p.191) and [Economic Sector Summary – All Funding Sources] (p.209), Appendix 4B 2028 [Economic Sector Summary] (p.215), rendered. Ministry of Finance, 2027 Budget Speech, 12 Nov 2026, paras 282–286. SSNIT, "5 SSNIT hotels cash strapped", 13 Jun 2024 (credited to Zed Multimedia, 12 Jun 2024). MyJoyOnline, "SSNIT considers leasing loss-making hotels as turnaround plan takes shape", 18 Jun 2026. MyJoyOnline, "SSNIT to build five-star hotels in Accra and Kumasi under new tourism plan", 12 Nov 2026. Citi Newsroom, "Gov't to offer SSNIT tax incentives to build five hotels by 2030 – Ato Forson", 12 Nov 2026. Ghana Statistical Service, Accommodation Occupancy Report, March to June 2025; GSS highlights page. StatsGH, "Ghana Hotel Room Demand Falls 7 Percent Despite Ample Capacity".
X posts: @SIKAOFFICIAL1; @AgbelimorK59060; @Terlabie_.