Open letter to the Expat and Diasporan in Ghana
Moving to Ghana is exciting, but too many Diaspora buyers and dream chasers are making costly mistakes—skipping inspections, rushing into business ideas, and underestimating the cultural landscape. In this open letter, I share tough love and hard-earned lessons from the ground in Ghana. From housing horror stories to failed business launches, this post is a wake-up call: slow down, do your due diligence, and respect the market. Ghana has opportunity, but only if you approach it with humility, research, and professional guidance.
Cameron Kyser
9/10/20253 min read
Dear Diaspora and Expat Family,
Let’s have a real conversation. You packed up your life and sold the house, cashed out the 401K, maybe even kissed that 9-to-5 goodbye. You caught a one-way flight to Ghana after joining a few Facebook groups, watched some YouTube videos, and made a couple of “connections.” You got inspired. Empowered. Hopeful.
But somewhere between JFK and Kotoka, you left your common sense at the gate. I say this with love because I’m one of you. I’m a American who moved to Ghana. But I’ve also seen again and again how naivety, arrogance, and poor planning are costing us, literally.
🚨 The Housing Horror Stories Are Real
Diaspora and expat buyers call us after the fact, after they’ve paid full price for homes they’ve never got professionally inspected. After contractors run off with money. After corner-cutting leaves them with leaking roofs, faulty wiring, and unfinished shells. When we ask why they didn’t get a professional inspection, the answer is always the same: “I didn’t know there were home inspectors in Ghana.”
WRONG: You didn’t ask. You didn’t look. A 10-second Google search would have pulled up Building Inspectors of Ghana. But many of you thought you could “figure it out.” Suddenly, the accountant from Chicago becomes a builder, a Realtor, an engineer, a lawyer… and a cultural expert.
🧠 “Back Home” You Knew Better…
Let’s be honest: In the U.S., you’d never buy a house without an inspection. You’d never hand over cash to a seller without escrow or a title company. You’d never sign contracts without a Realtor or Attorney. You’d work with licensed professionals.
But in Ghana? All that goes out the window. Now you're acting like it’s the Wild Wild West, and you are the new sheriff in town. You arrogantly assume because it’s Africa, your western logic trumps lived experience. And that’s a mistake.
⚒️ Starting a Business ≠ Starting From Scratch
And it’s not just about home buying. Let’s talk about business. So many Diasporans come here, see a “gap” in the market, they think they’ve struck gold. They pour thousands into launching businesses outside of their expertise just because they think: “Nobody’s doing this. Ghana needs this.” Here’s the truth: Just because there’s a gap doesn’t mean it can be filled. You will see five waakye sellers on one block and not a single taco shop and think, “This is my chance!” But Ghana isn’t always an “if you build it, they will come” economy. It’s a deeply traditional market. Change doesn’t come easy. It takes more than good ideas, it takes education, trust-building, patience, and cultural understanding. You have to understand Ghanian consumerism is not like American consumerism.
Even with Building Inspectors of Ghana, we’re fighting an uphill battle to normalize home inspections, something that’s standard in the West. We offer pre-purchase inspections, phase inspections during construction, and virtual inspection walk-throughs for clients living abroad. You’d think it’s a no-brainer. But most Ghanaians have never heard of it and the average buyer either “has an uncle” or assumes “inspection is for obronis.” Our market share? It’s the small percentage of serious, educated buyers who value long-term investment over short-term convenience. And even then it’s hard-earned.
So if we certified professionals with over a decade of experience, on the ground and are diasporans, are struggling to introduce a truly needed service, what makes you think your untested idea will take off overnight?
✋🏾 Slow Down. Get Help. Do It Right. Ghana has opportunity. Yes. But it also has nuance, history, culture, and resistance to change. If you don’t understand the market, the people, or the politics, your money will vanish before your dream gets off the ground. Stop trying to do everything yourself. Stop dismissing the very people who understand your expectations, live here, know the system, and have built from the ground up. If you’re building a home, get a phase inspection. If you’re buying or renting long term, get a pre-purchase inspection. If you’re starting a business, research, get local insight and professional guidance. Do your due diligence. And above all — stay humble.
With tough love and professional respect,
Cameron Kyser Internationally Licensed Realtor
CMO- Building Inspectors of Ghana, Building Inspectors of Ghana
📞 +233 50 320 0968