How to check a Ghanaian company before you ship

To check a Ghanaian company, confirm it appears on the register of the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC), and that the name and registration number match your contract. ORC's fee schedule lists paid searches of its registers; its pages describe a name-availability check but do not say what that check costs. No single search proves a buyer is safe.

Key facts

• ORC describes a name search that checks the "availability of names of business from ORC database", and adds that "the final approval of the names shall be given by the Registrar" (ORC name search). The page does not say whether the check is free.
• That name search is not run on ORC's own site: ORC's service page opens Ghana's online registration portal, rgdonline.gegov.gov.gh (ORC name search).
• ORC's fee schedule lists GHS 30.00 for a search in the Business Name/Partnership register and GHS 30.00 for a search in the Companies Register on matters excluding charges and insolvency; a search on charges and insolvency matters costs GHS 150.00 (ORC fees).
• GHANEPS, Ghana's public procurement portal, publishes a searchable list of awarded government contracts, with a "Supplier Name" column, without requiring a login (GHANEPS awarded contracts).

What should I check first?

Check that the registered name and number match the contract, and that your contact can act for the company. A trading name, a website or a shop sign is not a registration. Ask the buyer for the registered name and number and compare them with every document and invoice you receive.

How do I search the ORC register?

ORC's fee schedule lists its paid searches under "Search & Registers": GHS 30.00 for a search in the Business Name/Partnership register, GHS 30.00 for a search in the Companies Register on matters excluding charges and insolvency, and GHS 150.00 for a search on matters of charges and insolvency (ORC fees). So the GHS 30.00 search is not the whole file: if you want to know whether the company's assets are pledged or whether it is insolvent, that is the separate GHS 150.00 search.

The pages we opened do not say how to lodge a register search online — the fee schedule lists only the amounts, and the name search opens Ghana's registration portal. Ask ORC how to lodge the search: the office publishes a phone number, an email address and its services menu (ORC). Search by the buyer's registered name, and keep a dated copy of what the result shows.

What does the name check prove, and what does it not?

It answers whether a name can be registered, not whether your buyer is the company behind it. ORC says a name must not be the same as, or similar in sound or look to, an existing one, and that "the final approval of the names shall be given by the Registrar" (ORC name search). The check does not give you the registration number, the company's current status or its officers. Ask the buyer for the registered name and number, pay for the register search, and compare every line with what you were told.

Has the company won government work?

GHANEPS, Ghana's electronic procurement portal, publishes a searchable list of awarded government contracts, including a "Supplier Name" column, without requiring a login (GHANEPS awarded contracts). Checking a supplier's history there is a separate search from the ORC registry, and it only covers public-sector awards.

How do I check sanctions and other records?

Screen the company and its directors against the sanctions lists you are legally required to use, which depend on your own country and business. See our guide to sanctions screening for South African trade for how the lists work, and ask your compliance adviser which ones apply to you. Also compare the buyer's website domain, email domain and company name, and ask your bank how it would verify the buyer's account.

What are the red flags?

These patterns appear often in trade fraud and are reasons to slow down, not proof of wrongdoing:

• The buyer says money must be paid first for "court approval" or a "registration fee" before the order can proceed.
• The registered name or number does not match the one used in emails and invoices.
• Bank details change during the conversation, or the account is in a different name or country from the buyer.
• The contact uses only a free email address, or the domain is very new.
• The buyer pressures you with urgency or offers unusually large orders without detail.

Where does this guide stop?

This guide covers public steps you can take yourself with the Ghanaian registry. It does not describe a B2B.Africa service. To compare company registries in six African countries, see the guide to verifying a company in Africa. Get advice from a lawyer or your bank before relying on any single check. This article is general information, not legal advice.