Best Forex Brokers Ghana
We have reviewed the brokers that have tier-1 regulated brokers for traders in Ghana. We also looked at other important factors like funding, fees, and customer support.
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If you live in Ghana and want to engage in online forex trading, there are some key things you should know about online forex brokers and trading forex from Ghana.
First, online forex trading is currently unregulated in Ghana by neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor the Bank of Ghana. Although many online forex brokers offer their services to clients in Ghana, trading with them is at your own risk because no authority in Ghana can offer you any form of protection.
Because trading safely is important, we have compiled a list of the best forex brokers to guide you on which to trade with. Firstly, never trade with an unregulated broker. You could lose all of your money.
We have reviewed several forex brokers in Ghana, examining their regulatory status, trading and non-trading fees, account types and available trading instruments.
We now present the best of these brokers with a summary of their pros/cons. Read on to learn more about them so that you can make an informed decision when choosing your broker.
| Broker | EUR/USD Spread (pips) | Min. Deposit | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Octa |
1.0
|
$50 (GHS 760)
|
Visit Broker |
| XM |
1.6
|
$5 (GHS 76)
|
Visit Broker |
| Tickmill |
0.1
|
$100 (GHS 1,520)
|
Visit Broker |
| Fusion Markets |
0.08
|
$10 (GHS 152)
|
Visit Broker |
| Exness |
1.0
|
$10 (GHS 152)
|
Visit Broker |
Here are the Best Forex Brokers in Ghana that we have reviewed based on 10+ trust Factors:
For more information, we now cover below the detailed breakdown of features like safety, fees, trading conditions, support & more of each above listed broker one by one for comparison.
Octa is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) as Octa Markets Cyprus Ltd and licensed to operate as an investment firm in the European Area. Octa is also registered in Saint Lucia as Octa Markets Incorporated, they serve clients Outside the EU through this registration.
Total Fees: For trading fees, Octa charges spreads on trade, no commissions are charged on trades and Octa does not charge swap fees for overnight positions. For non-trading fees, Octa does not charge any deposit or withdrawal fees and no dormant account charges either.
Trading Conditions:
Account types: Octa offers three account types based on the trading platforms they support – Octa Trader, MT4, and MT5 accounts. The minimum deposit for these accounts as recommended by the broker is $100 (GHS 1,520), although when depositing funds, the minimum amount is dependent on the deposit method and starts from $50 (GHS 760) for Skrill and Neteller. Spreads for major currency pairs are low.
| Major Currency Pairs | Spread |
|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 1.0 |
| USD/JPY | 2.0 |
| GBP/USD | 1.1 |
| USD/CHF | 1.20 |
| USD/CAD | 1.40 |
| AUD/USD | 1.0 |
| NZD/USD | 1.20 |
Commissions: Octa offers commission-free trading on all instruments and account types, so, you do not have to pay any commissions to open or close trade positions.
Instruments: Tradable CFDs instruments on Octa are 52 currency pairs, 2 metals (gold and silver), 10 stock indices, 3 energies, 150 stocks, 34 cryptocurrencies, and 26 intraday assets.
Leverage: These are the maximum leverages for various instruments on Octa.
| Instruments | Leverage |
|---|---|
| Forex CFDs | 1,000:1 |
| Index CFDs | 400:1 |
| Metals CFDs | 400:1 |
| Energies CFDs | 400:1 |
| Crypto CFDs | 200:1 |
| Stocks CFDs | 40:1 |
| Intraday Assets CFDs | 1,000:1 |
Risk management tools: Octa offers negative balance protection to ensure you do not lose more than the money in your trading account. They also have stop-loss order feature.
Funding/Withdrawal methods: You can deposit via e-wallets (Skrill and Neteller) and crypto. You can withdraw via these means too. E-wallets deposits are credited instantly while it takes about 30 minutes for deposits via crypto to be reflected on your trading account.
Trading platforms: Octa Trader, MetaTrader 4, and MetaTrader 5 are the platforms available with this broker. These platforms are available on different devices (Android, iOS, Web, Windows and Mac).
Support: Octa offers 24/7 online customer support to traders via live chat. The live chat has a chatbot but you can get a live agent to respond by requesting that the chatbot transfers you. When we tested it, the wait time was under 2 minutes for a live agent to respond.
Octa Pros
Octa Cons
XM is regulated by the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) of Belize as XM Global Limited, this is the entity traders in Ghana are registered under. They are also licensed by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) as Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Limited.
Total Fees: XM charges spreads, commissions and swaps on trades, depending on your trading account. However, while the broker ordinarily does not charge any fees for adding funds or withdrawing from your account, they charge $10 per month on dormant accounts after 90 days of inactivity.
Trading Conditions:
Account types: XM has 4 account types, Standard, Micro, Ultra-Low Standard and Shares Accounts. All accounts require a minimum deposit of $5 (GHS 76) except shares account which requires a minimum deposit of $10,000. Below are typical spreads of major instruments on XM
| Major Currency Pairs | Spread (Typical) |
|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 1.6 |
| USD/JPY | 2 |
| GBP/USD | 1.8 |
| USD/CHF | 1.9 |
| USD/CAD | 2.3 |
| AUD/USD | 2.3 |
| NZD/USD | 2.7 |
Commissions: XM does not charge commissions on trades, this applies to all instruments and all accounts except the Shares Account.
Instruments: XM offer a good range of instruments. You get to trade 55 currency pairs, 31 equity indices, 6 thematic indices, 58 cryptocurrencies, 1,300 stocks, 5 precious metals, 7 turbo stocks, 8 energies, 8 agriculture commodities, an 99 shares.
Leverage: The leverages for the CFDs instruments on XM is dependent on the size of your equity/trade. Here is a breakdown:
| Total Equity | Maximum Leverage |
|---|---|
| $5 – $40,000 | 1,000:1 |
| $40,001 – $80,000 | 500:1 |
| $80,001 – $200,000 | 200:1 |
| $200,001+ | 100:1 |
Note that as your trade volume increases, your leverage is reduced and some instruments like Cryptocurrencies operate a dynamic margin model.
Risk management tools: XM offers negative balance protection to ensure you do not lose more than the money in your trading account, they also have Stop Loss and Take Profit orders feature.
Funding/Withdrawal methods: XM supports 4 deposit/withdrawal methods: credit/debit card, bank transfer, mobile money, or e-wallets. Card and e-wallet deposits are credited instantly, mobile money deposits can take up to 24 hours, while it takes take 3-5 working days for bank transfers. Withdrawals to cards and bank accounts take 5 working days for you to receive funds, its instant for e-wallets and 3 working days for mobile money.
Trading platforms: You can trade with MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, or their proprietary mobile trader (XM App). XM MT4 and MT 5 is available on Web, Mac and Windows. Also, you can download their mobile trader on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
Support: XM offers 24/7 online support via live chat on their website. When we tested it, it took less than 2 minutes for a chat agent to respond and the answers were helpful.
XM Pros
XM Cons
Tickmill is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK as Tickmill UK Ltd, the entity that serves Ghana traders is licensed by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA) as Tickmill Ltd.
Total Fees: Tickmill charges spreads, commissions and swaps, depending on the account type. The broker offers free deposits and withdrawals for all payment methods, although you have to deposit above $5,000 via bank transfers for the fees to be covered. Tickmill does not charge inactive account fees but if your trading account is dormant for 60 days with less than $50 balance, the account will be disabled and you cannot reactivate it.
Trading Conditions:
Account type: Tickmill offers 2 main account types – Classic, and Raw Accounts. Both accounts require a minimum deposit of $100 (GHS 1,520). When your account balances reaches $50,000, your account will be upgraded to VIP status and you get to enjoy some benefits.
Here are the typical spreads for select instruments
| Major Currency Pairs | Spread (Typical) |
|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 0.1 |
| USD/JPY | 0.1 |
| GBP/USD | 0.3 |
| USD/CHF | 0.4 |
| USD/CAD | 0.2 |
| AUD/USD | 0.1 |
| NZD/USD | 0.3 |
Commission: Tickmill offers commission-free trading with the Classic Accounts. The Raw Accounts pay commission on trades, starting $3 (GHS 46) per side which is $6 (GHS 92) for round turn.
Instruments: Tickmill offers limited instruments compared to other brokers on this list. You get to trade 62 currency, CFDs on 9 cryptocurrencies, 20 stock indices, 4 bonds, and 15 commodities (oil, agriculture, metals).
Leverage by instruments:
| CFD Instruments | Maximum Leverage |
|---|---|
| Forex CFDs | 1,000:1 |
| CFDs on Stock Indices | 100:1 |
| CFDs on Commodities | 100:1 |
| CFDs on Metals (Gold and Silver) | 1,000:1 |
| Bonds CFDs | 100:1 |
| Crypto CFDs | 200:1 |
Risk management tools: You can use a stop-loss order and trailing stops. They also offer negative balance protection. However, Tickmill does not offer guaranteed stop-loss orders and the negative balance protections are not guaranteed either.
Funding/withdrawals: You can deposit and withdraw funds through bank transfer, credit/debit card, Neteller, and Skrill, sofort, dotpay, and crypto. For all of these channels, you cannot withdraw below $25 (GHS 380).
Also, deposits are instant except bank transfers that take 1 working day. All withdrawals are processed within 1 working day and can take up to 8 working days to receive it depending on the payment method.
Trading platforms: Tickmill offers the MetaTrader 4 and 5 platforms. They also have a Metatrader Web platform. Tickmill’s MT4 & MT4 mobile platforms are available for Android & iOS.
Support: They offer customer via live chat on their website. The response time is fast.
Tickmill Pros
Tickmill Cons
Fusion Markets is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). They are also licensed in Vanuatu as Gleneagle Securities Pty Limited, they serve the clients in Ghana via this registration.
Total Fees: Fusion Markets charges spreads, commissions and swap fees, depending on your trading account type. The broker offers free deposits and withdrawals. Fusion Markets does not charge inactive account fees.
Trading Conditions:
Account type: Tickmill offers 2 main account types – Classic, and Zero Accounts. They also have swap free and demo accounts. The minimum deposit for the accounts depend on the payment method you are using and this starts from $10 (GHS 152).
Here are the average spreads for select instruments on Fusion Markets
| Major Currency Pairs | Spread (Average) |
|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 0.08 |
| USD/JPY | 1.1 |
| GBP/USD | 0.23 |
| USD/CHF | 0.34 |
| USD/CAD | 0.23 |
| AUD/USD | 0.13 |
| NZD/USD | 0.19 |
Commission: There are no commissions on currency pairs when trading with the Classic Account. However, the Zero Account has commission charges from $2.25 (GHS 34) per side per standard lot which makes it $4.5 (GHS 68) for a round turn.
Instruments: You can trade over 2100 instruments on Fusion Markets. They offer 90+ currency pairs, 15 indices, 7 metals, 3 energies, 1,000+ stock CFDs, 11 agriculture commodities and 13 cryptocurrencies CFDs.
Leverage by instruments: The maximum leverage is 500:1. Find the breakdown below:
Leverage by instruments:
| CFD Instruments | Maximum Leverage |
|---|---|
| Forex CFDs | 500:1 |
| CFDs on Indices | 100:1 |
| CFDs on Metals | 500:1 |
| Bonds CFDs | 100:1 |
| Crypto CFDs | 10:1 |
Leverage by equity:
| Total Equity | Maximum Leverage |
|---|---|
| $5 – $50,000 | 500:1 |
| $50,001 – $100,000 | 200:1 |
| $100,001 – $250,000 | 100:1 |
| $250,001-$500,000 | 50:1 |
Risk management tools: Fusion Markets has stop loss order feature and you can set it to limit your losses if a trade is not going as expected.
Funding/withdrawals: You can make deposits to Fusion Markets via bank transfers, cards (Visa/Mastercard) and e-wallets (Skrill and Neteller). You can also withdraw via these methods. Deposits via cards and e-wallets are credited instantly while bank transfers take 1-5 business days for the funds to be reflected in your trading account. Withdrawals to e-wallets are instant but take 1-5 business days for cards and bank transfers.
Trading platforms: Trading platforms supported by Fusion Markets are MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, and TradingView. They are available on web, desktop and mobile apps (iOS and Android)
Support: The broker offers 24/7 online customer service through live chat on their website. The response time we tested it was under 2 minutes.
Fusion Markets Pros
Fusion Markets Cons
Exness is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and the the Financial Services Authority (FSA), Seychelles as Nymstar Limited, through which they serve international clients, including Ghana traders.
Total Fees: Exness charges spreads and swaps on all accounts as well as commission on some accounts. Exness does not have charges on deposits and withdrawals an no dormant account fees applies for inactivity.
Trading Conditions:
Account type: Exness offers 5 account types broken into Standard Accounts (Standard and Standard Cent) and Professional Accounts (Pro, Raw Spread and Zero). The minimum deposit for Standard Accounts is $10 (GHS 152) while Professional Accounts require a minimum deposit of $500 (GHS 7,627).
Here are the average spreads on the Standard Account for some instruments:
| Major Currency Pairs | Spread |
|---|---|
| EUR/USD | 1 |
| USD/JPY | 1.1 |
| GBP/USD | 1.2 |
| USD/CHF | 1.4 |
| USD/CAD | 2.2 |
| AUD/USD | 1.4 |
| NZD/USD |
Commission for major pairs: There are no commissions when trading with the Standard Accounts and Pro Accounts, whereas commission starts at $0.05 per lot side for Zero Account and up to $3.5 (GHS 53.5) per lot (which makes it $7 (GHS 107) for a round turn) on Raw Spread Account.
Instruments: You can trade; 99 currency pairs, 98 CFDs on stocks and 10 indices assets, 35cryptocurrencies, 10 metals, and 3 energies.
Leverage by equity balance:
| Total Equity | Maximum Leverage |
|---|---|
| $0 – $999 | Unlimited |
| $1,000 – $4,999 | 2,000:1 |
| $5,000 – $29,999 | 1,000:1 |
| $30,000+ | 500:1 |
Note: All instruments on Exness trade at a maximum leverage of 1:200 during weekends and holidays.
Risk management tools: Exness offers negative balance protection to ensure you do not lose more than the money in your trading account.
Funding/withdrawals: Traders can instantly fund their accounts via online bank transfers and cards. Online bank transfer deposits are credited within 5 hours while withdrawals can take 24 hours. Deposits via cards are credited within 5 business days and withdrawals can take up to 10 business days.
Trading platforms: Exness supports the MT4 & MT5 trading applications which are available on the web, desktop, and mobile devices (Android, tablets, & iOS) and Exness Trader App is available for mobile devices and their proprietary Exness Terminal is only available on the web.
Support: Exness offers 24/7 customer support to clients via live chat on their website. The response time is under 5 minutes.
Exness Pros
Exness Cons
A forex broker offers brokerage services to retail and professional traders who want to speculate on currency pairs & other markets as CFDs, by going long (buy) or short (sell).
Through a forex broker, your profit or loss from trading CFDs is cash settled in a brokerage account you have opened with the broker.
A forex broker could be a market maker which means they could be taking the opposite sides of your trades or a no-dealing desk broker that connects you to buyers/sellers through their liquidity providers via computerized networks.
Forex trading in Ghana is unregulated & it is carried out through online platforms. Today, a broker is just a click away. This situation has led to the proliferation of Forex brokers consisting of the good, the bad, and the outright scam brokers.
If we rope the scam Forex brokers with those that abide by the rules, we commit a fallacy of generalization. Hence, we have carefully created this list of questions that you must ask when choosing a Forex Broker.
As Ghana online forex trader, one understanding you must have is that no rules and regulations are guiding the activities of online Forex brokers in Ghana. The average Ghanaian forex trader is not protected by any government agency in case of any dispute with unlicensed brokers.
This brings us to the idea of international regulators and registration. We have global Tier-1, Tier-2, and Tier-3 regulators.
Global Tier-1 regulatory licenses such as the ASIC, FCA, CFTC, etc are more complex and expensive to acquire, hence are more important and offer greater protection than others.
Tier-2, Although still important, is not compared to those Tier-1. These include regulations like FSCA, DFSA, CMA (Kenya), etc.
Tier-3 usually deals with offshore countries in the Caribbean such as Belize, St. Vincent & Grenadines, etc where financial laws are very lax.
An online trader needs to ensure the broker is registered with at least a Tier-1 regulator to protect his/her investment. Else, the losses might not come from your ignorance of the instrument traded or market dynamics but from an unregulated broker.
It is not enough for a broker to post on their website they’re registered with this and that regulator. Some might manufacture a number and use such to hoodwink gullible investors.
There is a way to verify if truly these brokers are registered under the regulator they claim. In this example, we will verify the broker’s regulation with FCA.
Let’s see the general steps involved.
Go to the website of the financial service register of the financial conduct authority. There they have a list of all financial service activities and the firms that are registered with them.
You can also search for yourself to confirm, from the FCA Register for example.
Below is a step-by-step guide to confirming the status of your forex broker.
Above is an example of verification of “HF Markets (UK) Ltd.” which is the company of HF Markets Group. Similarly, you can verify the license no. of the broker with other regulatory bodies.
All the regulators have a public search to verify the license number.
Since there is no regulation for retail forex brokers in Ghana, make sure to choose a broker that multiple top-tier regulators authorise. This will ensure that your funds are protected.
Here is an extra note of caution. If you are checking a forex broker’s regulation on the FCA website, you want to make sure you note clone firms. Clone firms tend to use details close to the original broker’s details. Clone brokers are scammers and can dupe unsuspecting traders.
Fees are divided into non-trading and trading fees.
a. Non-Trading Fees: Non-trading fees include inactivity fees, withdrawal/deposit fees, and currency conversion charges. You can check the broker’s FAQ sections to check for non-trading fees. If you are not satisfied with what you find there, you can reach out to the broker via email, live chat, or a phone call. Here is how our brokers compare in terms of non-trading fees
| Broker | Deposit Fees | Withdrawal Fees | Inactivity Fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Octa | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| XM | $0 | $0 | $10 |
| Tickmill | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fusion Markets | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Exness | $0 | $0 | $0 |
b. Trading Fees: Trading fees include swaps, commissions, and spreads. How much of these you are charged depends on the type of account you choose to open with a broker. So you have to go to the broker’s website and determine the spreads and commissions attached to them. Some accounts even carry non-trading charges.
Most brokers give an overview of the different accounts they offer. Take your time to go through these accounts and see the fees attached to them.
Before making a deposit to your broker, you need to know the number of instruments available for you to trade. As usual, you should go through the broker’s instrument page to see what they are offering you. Currency pairs, CFDs, indices, and commodities are important instruments for a broker to have.
Check the exact number of asset classes being offered & the total trading fees (spread, commission & swap fees) for each instruments under every asset class. For example, if you want to mainly trade major currencies like EUR/USD, GBP/USD etc. then you should look at the fees for these exact instruments.
But also in addition to this, check for the trading charges attached for trading other CFDs, stock indices, and commodities. This is because it will give you a general idea of the fees the broker is charging. They take up a portion of your profits and can add to your loss.
To check, you should visit the broker’s website & see the instruments page. Generally, you will find under sections like ‘markets’. Here is an example from Exness website.
Brokers usually give a breakdown of account types on their websites. You will also find in this breakdown key features of the accounts. You want to look for an account with low spreads and low commissions. This is a major factor to consider when choosing your trading account.
Having multiple account types can offer you the flexibility to trade, and generally brokers have different fees structures for different account types.
Let’s understand this with an example. Forex brokers generally have Pro accounts (for Professional traders) & Standard Accounts (for Retail traders). The difference can be in terms of leverage & lower fees for large volume traders.
The Standard accounts are basic account types with standard fees structures, generally as spreads. Although some brokers also have Standard accounts with low spreads, but some commission involved for each trade (depending on your lot size).
Metatrader 4 (MT4) and Metatrader 5 (MT5) are the most popular trading platforms. Not all brokers have them though. What you want to pay attention to here are platform-specific features.
Some brokers have more instruments on their MT4 platform than MT5 or their proprietary trading platform. There could even be differences in swaps and commissions across the various platforms. So make sure to look this up on the broker’s website.
The availability of copy trading is another important thing to check. You will find this on the broker’s website if it is available. On some brokers website, it is referred to as social trading.
You can find it by clicking on the platforms tab on their website.
Yes, you need a forex broker to trade in the foreign exchange market. They act as an intermediary between you and the interbank market where currencies are actually traded.
Here’s why:
1) Access to the Market: Retail traders like you and me can’t directly access the interbank market.
Forex brokers have the licenses and relationships to do so, and they provide you with a platform to place your buy and sell orders. For example, on the backend, the access different providers to get the prices.
2) Order Execution: Your broker takes your order and finds a counterparty to match it with on the interbank market. They handle the execution of the trade, ensuring it’s done efficiently and at the best available price.
You can see this process play out on their forex trading platforms.
The brokers have access to liquidity providers, or a market maker may act as the counterparty themselves to your trades.
Let’s understand through an example. Let’s assume that you want to buy GBP/USD. First of all you need quote (Bid & Ask prices), which you can check on the broker’s platform. When you place a ‘market order’, the broker finds the fill for you by send it to their liquidity providers or directly acting as the counter party.
All of this happens in real time within a few micro seconds. Without a broker, retail or professional traders cannot trade currencies directly.
Its best to trade with forex brokers that offer some form of safety for your funds. Here are some red flags to avoid when choosing a forex broker:
1) Unregulated Brokers: Do not trade with forex brokers that are not regulated. Only trade with brokers who are regulated by a reputable authority.
2) Hidden Fees: Another sign to avoid a broker is high fees or commissions. Make sure you know and understand all the costs associated with trading before you open an account with any broker.
3) Absence of risk management tools: Because the forex market is risky, you should avoid brokers that do not have risk management tools or features, such as stop loss order.
Octa, XM, Tickmill, Fusion Markekts and Exness are the best forex brokers in Ghana as per our research. Any forex broker that is regulated with Tier-1 and Tier-2 regulation is considered safe for trading. The best forex broker in Ghana depends on your individual trading needs and trading goals.
Yes, forex trading is legal in Ghana as it has not been banned. However, it is important for you to note that online forex trading is currently unregulated by the Bank of Ghana or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Ghana. Trading with online brokers is at your own risk.
Since Exness accepts traders from Ghana, you can create an account with them if you are based in Ghana.
