Ghana: Old people are big business!

Ruth Ratjens, 92, says: “Without foreigners, no home for the elderly or hospital can function. We have many Black Africans here. What I have noticed is that they are often jealous of one another. No one likes to see the other being happy. Strange.”

The internet is filled with videos of Germans living in Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, and Greece. Increasingly, many Germans rely on small pensions and want to spend their retirement in warm, politically stable, and welcoming countries that offer good healthcare, reliable services for older people, entertainment options, and affordable living costs.

Turkey and Greece are familiar destinations for Germans who spent their working years vacationing there. Thailand and Vietnam, though far from home and outside the German time zone, offer low living costs and caring communities for the elderly—although the high humidity can be challenging for some.

Ghana is known internationally as a politically stable country. The Aburi Mountains once offered British colonial officers an ideal European‑like climate. Ghana sits comfortably within European time zones, its nature invites adventure, its nurses are known for excellent elderly care, major insurers like Allianz operate locally, and the cost of living is manageable for European pensioners with modest incomes.

A retirement‑home concept built around meaningful activity—small gardens behind apartments with fruits, vegetables, or poultry; park‑like surroundings; shuttle buses; opportunities to support orphans, homeless youth, and struggling families—would keep elderly foreigners active, purposeful, and socially connected. At the same time, well‑trained Ghanaian nurses could provide high‑quality care during their final years, months, or days. Unlike many Asian destinations, Ghana offers the advantage of widespread English proficiency.

While Thailand and Vietnam actively promote themselves as retirement hubs for Western seniors, Ghana continues to send its highly qualified nurses abroad on two‑year contracts to Cuba or allows them to migrate privately to Europe. No Ghanaian government has yet taken steps to tap into the emerging global market of elderly care.

Ghana, what are you waiting for? Must they all be gone before you wake up?