Before you start

Non-citizen Ghana Card
Employment contract, for employer-arranged cover
Proof of foreign social security membership, if seeking a SSNIT exemption
Vaccination records including yellow fever

Step-by-step

1
Establish what your employer's private cover includes
Ask for the schedule of benefits and the hospital panel. Accra's better private hospitals are concentrated in the Airport, Cantonments and East Legon areas — check the panel against where you live.
Via employerWho: YouWeek 1
2
Apply for the SSNIT exemption if you qualify
An expatriate employed in Ghana for a period not exceeding 36 months who can show membership of a social security scheme in another country may apply to the National Pensions Regulatory Authority for exemption from the mandatory scheme. It requires an application with proof; nothing happens automatically.
Via employerWho: You and your employerAt the start of the assignment
3
Register for NHIS if you are staying long-term
The National Health Insurance Scheme covers a defined benefits package at accredited facilities. Registration uses the Ghana Card. For a multi-year stay it is a cheap complement to private cover rather than a replacement for it.
In personWho: You
4
Get malaria advice from a local clinician
Malaria is endemic year-round in Accra. Short-stay arrivals normally take prophylaxis; long-term residents typically switch to testing early and treating fast. Get the advice locally rather than from a travel clinic abroad, and keep rapid tests at home.
In personWho: You
5
Complete vaccinations beyond yellow fever
Yellow fever is the entry requirement for Ghana. Typhoid, hepatitis A and B, meningitis and rabies are commonly recommended for residents and can be completed at an Accra travel clinic.
In personWho: You
6
Know which hospital and which number in advance
112 reaches the National Ambulance Service; 193 reaches it directly. Private ambulance services also operate in Accra. Write down your hospital, your route at rush hour and the number your insurer wants you to call, and tell someone at work where it is.
In personWho: You

Documents you’ll need

Ghana Card
Private insurance card and schedule of benefits
NHIS registration, if enrolled
Yellow fever certificate
Proof of foreign social security membership, for the exemption

Things most newcomers don’t know

The 36-month SSNIT exemption is real money and it requires somebody to actually apply for it.

Ghana's National Pensions Act obliges every worker including expatriates to contribute 18.5% of basic salary. The National Pensions Regulatory Authority's own guidelines exempt an expatriate resident and employed in Ghana for a period not exceeding 36 months who shows proof of membership of a scheme in another country. Nobody applies on your behalf. On a three-year assignment the amount at stake is substantial, and the deductions run quietly from month one if the application is never made.

Source: National Pensions Regulatory Authority

A slice of your social security contribution is the health levy, which is why the two are entangled.

Of the 13% employer contribution, a portion is remitted to the National Health Insurance Authority as the health insurance levy, with the rest split between SSNIT and the Tier 2 scheme. That structure is why questions about pensions and questions about health cover in Ghana keep leading back to the same payroll line. It also means an exemption from the pension scheme has knock-on effects worth asking your payroll team about explicitly.

Source: National Pensions Regulatory Authority; SSNIT

Accra's private hospitals are good and clustered, so where you live decides your realistic options.

The private facilities most international employers use sit in the Airport Residential, Cantonments and East Legon belt. Living in Spintex or out toward Tema and holding a plan whose panel is all in Cantonments means a real ambulance journey through evening traffic. Read the panel list against a map before accepting a plan, and ask whether a wider panel is available.

Source: community-reported

112 and 193 both reach the ambulance service, and knowing which private services exist matters too.

Ghana consolidated its emergency numbers into a single 112 hotline in 2020, routed to police, fire and the National Ambulance Service, while the individual service numbers — 191 police, 192 fire, 193 ambulance — remain published by the services themselves. In practice, established residents also keep the direct number of a private ambulance operator or their hospital's own line, because response times vary. Have both.

Source: National Ambulance Service