Ghana or Zambia
Two countries side by side across the same rows as the full comparison. A dash means the value is missing: fields are not filled with guesses. about the data
| Ghana | Zambia | |
|---|---|---|
| Salary in IT | — | — |
| Citizenship | 5 years | 10 years |
| Partner can work | — | — |
| Parents | — | — |
| Pets | difficult | difficult |
| Pet limit | no limit | no limit |
| Quarantine | no | — |
| Residence permit fee | — | — |
| Rent, 2 bedrooms | $ 632 · estimate | $ 369 · estimate |
| Basket | $ 29,3 | $ 26,5 |
| Life expectancy | 65.69 | 66.53 |
| Homicides/100k | 1.83 | 5.2 |
| Natural hazards, 0–10 | 3.3 | 3.1 |
How the two sets of routes differ
Long-stay routes in this reference: Ghana — 16, Zambia — 19. Types present in both: work, study, family, investment and repatriation. Zambia adds: retirement.
Fees, thresholds and deadlines
Ghana: fees range from 40 to 18,000 USD. Zambia: fees range from 3,000 to 24,000 ZMW. Routes with no fee: 1. Routes stating an income threshold: 1; the lowest is 250,000 USD a month.
Beyond the first permit
Permanent status: Zambia after 10 years; the other country publishes no term. Citizenship: Ghana after 5 years, Zambia after 10 years. Both allow a second citizenship.
Ghana in brief
Ghana is a West African country with English-language law based on the Immigration Act, 2000 (Act 573) and the Citizenship Act, 2000 (Act 591), which has allowed dual citizenship since 2000. Work immigration is structured through the Ghana Immigration Service's 'Work and Residence Permit' combination and, for investors, an automatic GIPC/GIPA immigrant quota sized to the company's paid-up capital. A distinctive feature of the country is two official channels for the diaspora of African descent: the Right of Abode permanent-residence status and a state citizenship programme launched in 2016 and continued by the Year of Return 2019 campaign. Importing dogs and cats does not require quarantine, but does require laboratory confirmation of the absence of several infections and current vaccination. Of the country's five largest districts by the 2021 census, one — Cape Coast — is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site tied to the history of the transatlantic slave trade.
Zambia in brief
Zambia is a landlocked country in southern Africa whose economy relies on the mining and export of Copperbelt copper: according to the Zambia Statistics Agency, copper anode- and cathode-based goods are among the country's major export items. English is enshrined by Article 258(1) of the Constitution as the country's official language. Residence and work permits are issued by the Department of Immigration under the Immigration and Deportation Act No. 18 of 2010 in the form of twelve separate permit types - from the Employment Permit and Investor's Permit to the Spouse Permit, Study Permit and permanent residence (Residence Permit); the latter, under the general path, is granted after ten years of continuous work under an Employment Permit, with faster paths of three years under an Investor's Permit or five years under a Spouse Permit. Citizenship by registration (Article 37 of the 2016 Constitution and the Citizenship of Zambia Act, 2016) requires ten years of ordinarily resident residence under the general path, five years for those born in the country or descended from a citizen, and five years of marriage to a citizen; dual citizenship has been allowed under Article 39 of the Constitution since 5 January 2016. Importing dogs and cats requires an Import Permit from the Department of Veterinary Services and a veterinary certificate with a rabies vaccination; the law does not set a fixed mandatory quarantine period - the decision is made case by case. Malaria is endemic across most of the country. Electricity supply relies heavily on hydropower: according to a statement by the Minister of Energy to the National Assembly (5 July 2024), the El Niño-driven drought lowered water levels at the Kariba and Itezhi-Tezhi reservoirs so much that load-shedding began in March 2024, reaching up to 12 hours a day from May 2024. The five cities in the guide are Lusaka (capital and largest business centre), Kitwe and Ndola (the largest industrial centres of the Copperbelt), Livingstone (the city at Victoria Falls, the country's main tourist entry point) and Kabwe (the administrative centre of Central Province on the road between Lusaka and the Copperbelt).
Other comparisons
Ghana or… Nigeria · Rwanda · Tunisia · Algeria · Tanzania · Kenya · South Africa · Angola
Zambia or… Gabon · Madagascar · Sierra Leone · Uganda · Eswatini · Lesotho · Mozambique · Republic of the Congo
More on each: Ghana · Zambia. Build your own comparison — up to four countries
This material is for reference and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Visa rules, tax thresholds and prices change. Before deciding anything, check the official sources and consult a licensed professional in the relevant country.