Ghana Ecommerce: Mobile Money and COD on Shopify (2026)

EasySell
2026-04-11T19:10:09+01:00

Ghana's ecommerce market hit $1.65 billion in 2025, according to Statista. That's small compared to Nigeria's $8 billion — but Ghana's market is growing at nearly 10% annually with far less competition. Most international sellers haven't arrived yet. If you're building a Shopify store for Ghana ecommerce, the merchants who set up now get a head start in West Africa's second-largest English-speaking economy.

What makes Ghana different from every other African market you've read about: mobile money and cash on delivery aren't competing here. They coexist. MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) has 19.3 million active users — in a country of 34 million people. Yet COD remains the default for first-time online buyers who don't trust a store they've never ordered from. You need both payment methods running on day one, or you'll lose customers on either side.

How Does Ghana's Payment Split Work for Shopify Merchants?

Ghana sits between two extremes. In Kenya, M-Pesa dominates and COD barely exists. In Nigeria, bank transfers are rising and COD is shrinking. Ghana's split — roughly half mobile money, half cash — means you serve both buyer types from day one.

MTN MoMo controls roughly 73% of Ghana's mobile money market. MoMo revenue grew 35.7% year-over-year in 2025, reaching GH¢6 billion. MTN recently spun off its Ghana mobile money business into a standalone fintech entity (MobileMoney Fintech Ltd, effective March 31, 2026), which signals even more investment in the platform.

For your Shopify store, this means the majority of Ghanaian customers already have a mobile wallet. They're used to paying digitally — for airtime, utilities, and peer-to-peer transfers. Ecommerce is the next step. But a significant chunk of buyers, especially first-time online shoppers, still want to see the product before they pay. That's where COD closes the gap.

Set Up Paystack or Flutterwave for Mobile Money on Shopify

Shopify doesn't natively support MTN MoMo or Vodafone Cash. You need a payment gateway that bridges Shopify's checkout with Ghana's local payment rails.

Two options work well:

Paystack — owned by Stripe, strong in Ghana and Nigeria. Supports MTN MoMo, Vodafone Cash, bank cards, and bank transfers. Integrates directly with Shopify through its official plugin. Transaction fees run around 1.95% for local transactions.

Flutterwave — supports 15+ payment methods in Ghana through a single API integration. Also connects to Shopify via plugin. Covers MTN MoMo, Vodafone Cash, AirtelTigo Cash, and cards.

Both process payouts in Ghanaian cedis. If you're selling cross-border into Ghana, you'll receive settlement in your local currency — but price your products in GHS. Ghanaian shoppers abandon carts when they see USD pricing because they can't calculate the real cost after conversion fees.

Add COD Without Losing Money on Fake Orders

COD in Ghana carries the same risks as every other emerging market: customers place orders with no intention of accepting delivery. Failed deliveries cost you the shipping fee plus the return logistics. In a market where last-mile delivery is already expensive, every refused order cuts directly into margin.

Three things reduce your COD risk:

1. Phone verification at order submission. Require OTP verification before a COD order goes through. This filters out impulse orders and fake phone numbers. EasySell handles OTP verification for COD orders on Shopify, including WhatsApp-based verification — which matters in Ghana where WhatsApp usage is higher than SMS.

2. Partial deposits. Ask for a small prepayment (10-20% of order value) via mobile money before shipping. This confirms buyer intent without requiring full prepayment. Customers who put down GHS 20 on a GHS 100 order almost always accept delivery.

3. Order limits per phone number. Cap the number of active COD orders per customer to prevent serial non-delivery from the same buyer.

Ghana's Last-Mile Delivery Is the Hardest Part

House numbering remains a genuine problem across Ghana. Government initiatives have made progress in Accra and Kumasi, but outside major cities, addresses are often described by landmarks — "near the Total filling station" or "opposite the blue church." This isn't a minor inconvenience. It's the single biggest reason ecommerce deliveries fail in Ghana.

Your logistics options:

Boxconn — Accra-based, specializes in ecommerce last-mile delivery with warehousing and order fulfillment. Good for merchants who want a single partner handling storage and shipping.

ShaQ Express — uses electric bikes for delivery in urban areas. Fast for same-day or next-day delivery within Accra.

Skynet Express — nationwide coverage including smaller cities. Slower but reaches areas that Accra-only couriers can't.

Jumia Logistics — if you're testing the market, Jumia's fulfillment network covers Ghana with established delivery infrastructure.

Whichever courier you choose, add a "delivery instructions" field to your order form. Let customers describe their location in their own words. A free-text field that says "Describe your location (landmark, building color, nearby shop)" will save your courier 15 minutes per delivery and cut failed deliveries significantly.

Build Trust Before You Expect Transactions

Trust is the biggest conversion barrier in Ghana ecommerce — more than price, more than shipping speed. Online fraud and counterfeit products have made Ghanaian shoppers cautious, and the country's Consumer Protection Agency regularly warns about fake online stores. Your store needs to earn trust faster than a local competitor who already has word-of-mouth credibility.

Three strategies that work in Ghana specifically:

WhatsApp as your primary support channel. Ghanaians use WhatsApp more than email. Put your WhatsApp number on every product page and in your order confirmation. Respond within hours, not days.

Unboxing videos from real customers. Ask early buyers to record a 30-second WhatsApp video of their delivery. Share these on your product pages and social media. In a low-trust market, seeing a real person receive a real product is worth more than any trust badge.

Cash on delivery as a trust bridge. COD isn't just a payment method in Ghana — it's a trust signal. Offering it tells customers: "We're confident enough in our product that you can inspect it before paying." Once a customer completes their first COD order successfully, they're far more likely to pay with mobile money next time.

Price in Cedis, Think in Margins

The Ghanaian cedi has been volatile — it lost roughly 20% against the dollar in 2024 alone. If you're sourcing products internationally, your cost basis shifts every quarter. Three ways to protect yourself:

Build currency buffer into your pricing. Add 10-15% above your target margin to absorb exchange rate swings. Adjust prices quarterly, not reactively.

Source locally where possible. Ghana has growing local manufacturing in textiles, cosmetics, and food products. Local sourcing eliminates currency risk entirely.

Use tiered pricing for quantity orders. Larger orders absorb shipping costs better and protect your per-unit margin. Quantity discounts also push AOV higher — if a customer was going to buy one item, a visible "Buy 3, save 15%" tier often converts them to a larger order.

Start With Accra, Expand to Kumasi, Then Go National

Don't try to serve all of Ghana on day one. Accra (Greater Accra Region) has 5.4 million people, the highest internet penetration, and the best courier coverage. Start there. Offer same-day or next-day delivery to build a reputation for reliability.

Kumasi is your second market. It's Ghana's second-largest city with a strong trading culture — merchants there are already comfortable buying and selling goods. The Kejetia Market is one of the largest in West Africa, so the commercial instinct exists. Online is just a new channel.

National expansion comes after you've proven your delivery reliability in these two cities. Going national too early means longer delivery times, higher failure rates, and a damaged reputation that's hard to recover in a market where word-of-mouth moves fast on WhatsApp.

Ghana's ecommerce market is still early enough that you don't need to rush. Set up your Shopify store with both mobile money and COD, pick one courier partner in Accra, and start selling. The merchants who build delivery reliability and customer trust now will own this market as it scales toward $2.6 billion by 2030.