Lewis SelbyCo-Founder, Maxme11 min read
Most online sellers in Ghana mix delivery options: their own dispatch rider or an app courier such as Yango or Bolt for same-day orders in Accra, a courier company or Jumia Delivery for other regions, and bus parcel services such as STC for bulky inter-city goods. Whoever carries the parcel, agree in writing how and when they pay you any cash they collect.
What delivery options do online sellers in Ghana actually use?
There is no single best delivery service for an online business in Ghana. The right mix depends on where your buyers live, how fast they expect the parcel, and whether someone has to collect cash at the door. Our guide "Cash on delivery in Ghana without the fake orders" covers confirming orders before dispatch. This one covers who carries the parcel and how the money comes back to you.
The table lists the options sellers use, with only the prices and terms each company publishes on its own website at the time of writing (September 2026). Where a cell says "ask", the company does not publish it, so get the answer in writing before your first parcel. Prices here are the courier's fee to you; you decide how much of it the buyer pays.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Option | Examples | Good for | Published price or terms | Collects cash for you? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your own dispatch rider | A rider you employ or retain | Daily runs in one city, COD, repeat buyers | You set the pay; see the formula below | Yes, on your rules |
| App couriers | Yango Delivery, Bolt Send, Uber Courier | Urgent same-day drops within a city | Price shown in the app before you book; Bolt Send takes up to 15 kg | Not offered on their Ghana pages |
| Accra flat-rate courier | Zippy | Planned deliveries across Accra | GHS 25 within 24 hours, GHS 30 same day, GHS 60 next day to Tema, Kasoa, Amasaman and Dodowa | Ask |
| Nationwide couriers | ShaQ Express, SCS Delivery, Uno | Regions, volume, warehousing | Quote on request | Ask; Uno advertises COD settlements |
| Jumia Delivery | Drop at a Jumia station; buyer collects | Low-cost parcels to other regions | Small parcel GHS 25 within Accra and Tema, GHS 30 Accra to Kumasi or Tamale | Not stated |
| Ghana Post | EMS, Speedlink | Post across Ghana and abroad; same day in Accra and Tema | Ask at the post office | Not stated |
| Bus parcel services | Intercity STC, VIP | Bulky goods between cities | Ask at the terminal | Not stated |
Should you hire your own dispatch rider in Accra?
A rider of your own makes sense when you have steady daily orders in one city and sell on cash on delivery. You control the route, the manners at the door and the cash, and the rider learns your regular buyers. The catch is that a rider costs roughly the same on a slow day as a busy one, so the decision comes down to how many drops you have each day.
Work it out with one formula: cost per delivery equals the rider's daily pay, plus fuel, data and airtime, plus a share of bike repairs, divided by the drops made that day. As an illustration, not an average: if a rider costs GHS 250 a day all in and makes 10 drops, each drop costs GHS 25. At 5 drops, it is GHS 50. Compare your own figure with a published flat rate such as Zippy's GHS 25 within 24 hours in Accra.
If you do hire, agree the basics in writing before day one: pay, who buys fuel and fixes the bike, working hours, and the cash rules in the checklist below. Ask for a driving licence and a guarantor, give the rider your WhatsApp Business number to message buyers from, and try a paid trial week before you commit to a monthly arrangement.
Can you use Yango, Bolt or Uber to deliver online orders?
Yes, for urgent drops within a city. Yango Delivery's Ghana page offers Express, where a courier arrives in about 15 minutes, and Cargo vans and trucks, plus business accounts and SMS updates for the person receiving the parcel. Bolt publishes Bolt Send for Ghana: parcels up to 15 kg and 65 x 55 x 40 cm, handed over at the kerb, with the price shown before you confirm. Uber's Ghana site has a Courier page but says it is not available everywhere, so check the app.
Know the limits. None of the three Ghana pages offers to collect cash for you, so use them for prepaid orders, or have the buyer pay by MoMo before the driver hands over. Uber states that it does not maintain insurance for package loss, theft or damage caused by a third party, and Yango describes itself as an information service whose deliveries are carried out by third parties.
So an app courier suits a GHS 150 dress that must reach East Legon by evening. It is a poor fit for a GHS 4,000 phone, where you want a courier that records proof of delivery and accepts responsibility for loss in writing.
Which courier companies deliver across Ghana for online stores?
For deliveries outside your city, or more orders than one rider can carry, use a courier company. ShaQ Express says it covers all 16 regions from nine regional offices, with last-mile delivery for e-commerce orders, warehousing and fulfilment, and delivery confirmed by signature, photo or OTP. SCS Delivery lists all 16 regional capitals and branches in Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi. Uno says it serves e-commerce platforms and SMEs nationwide and promises "predictable COD settlements".
None of those three publishes a rate card or its COD remittance terms online, so ask for both in writing. Couriers in Ghana are licensed by the Postal and Courier Services Regulatory Commission under Act 649, and the Commission publishes a register of licensed operators. Asking a courier for its licence number is a fair first question.
Jumia Delivery is open to sellers who do not sell on Jumia. You drop the parcel at a Jumia vendor drop-off point or pick-up station and pay there, and the buyer collects it from one of more than 120 pick-up points across 16 regions. Both of you can follow it on Jumia's tracking app, and SMS or email updates go out automatically.
At the time of writing, a small parcel (40 x 20 x 13 cm) costs GHS 25 within Jumia's Accra zone, which includes Tema and Kasoa, arriving in 1 to 2 business days, and GHS 30 from Accra to Kumasi, Takoradi or Tamale, in 3 to 9 business days. A medium parcel costs GHS 35 to 70. Its page does not mention collecting payment, so take payment first.
What about Ghana Post and bus parcel services?
Ghana Post offers EMS, its express service for documents and merchandise within Ghana and abroad, and Speedlink, a same-day pick-and-drop service in Accra and Tema that you book by phone. Businesses that send often can apply for an EMS contract, which Ghana Post runs as a post-paid account. Its courier pages do not list rates, so ask at a post office or call before you quote a buyer.
Bus companies carry many of Ghana's inter-city parcels, which suits bulky or heavy goods. Intercity STC runs STC Parcel and Package Express, with tracking on its online ticketing site, and VIP's official Facebook page points customers to its parcel office. Neither publishes parcel prices online. Ask at the terminal how the receiver collects, what ID they need, how long parcels are held, and who pays if one goes missing.
Take payment by MoMo or a payment link before you hand a parcel to a bus or the post office. Then send the buyer the waybill or tracking number and a photo of the labelled parcel, so they know exactly what to collect and where.
How should riders and couriers pay you the cash they collect?
Cash on delivery is only as good as the money that comes back. The safest cash is no cash: let buyers pay by MoMo to your business wallet, or scan a payment QR code on the rider's phone, so the money never sits in a pocket. Our guide "Cash on delivery in Ghana without the fake orders" explains the QR option. Where cash is still collected, write the rules down and have every rider or courier agree to them before the first parcel:
Reconcile every evening. Each parcel that went out must match a payment received or a parcel returned, and any gap gets chased the next morning, not at the end of the month. A simple sheet does the job: date, order number, area, rider or courier, amount due, how it was paid, MoMo reference and status. Set a cash limit too, so no rider carries more than a day's collections.
- When: the same evening for your own riders; for a courier, a named weekday or a fixed number of days after delivery.
- How: MoMo to the business wallet or a transfer to the business bank account, never a personal number, and who pays the transfer charge.
- Statement: every payout comes with a list of order numbers, amounts collected, fees deducted and failed deliveries.
- Proof: a code, photo or signature for each delivered order.
- Failed attempts: the fee, how many retries, and when undelivered parcels come back to you.
- Loss and damage: who pays, up to what value, and how you claim.
How do you pack and address parcels so they arrive?
Get three things from every buyer: a phone number they will answer, a landmark, and their GhanaPostGPS digital address. GhanaPostGPS divides the country into 5 m by 5 m squares and gives each one an address. In AK-039-5028, the Kumasi Main Post Office, AK-039 is the postal code for the area (A for Ashanti Region, K for Kumasi district) and 5028 is the unique address within it. Buyers find theirs in the GhanaPostGPS app, and riders can look it up on the map.
Pack for the trip, not the shelf. Put anything that can get wet inside a sealed plastic bag before it goes in the box, double-box anything fragile, and close parcels with tape that shows if it has been opened. Label each parcel with the order number, the buyer's first name, phone number and digital address, not the price. Photograph the labelled parcel and send the picture to the buyer when it leaves.
Put a short slip inside explaining how to arrange an exchange or return. Ghana's Electronic Transactions Act gives online buyers of goods fourteen days to cancel after receiving them; our guide "How to sell clothes online in Ghana" explains what that means for your returns policy.
How should delivery promises appear in your ads and store?
The law sets the floor. Section 47 of the Electronic Transactions Act, 2008 (Act 772) requires online sellers to show the full price, including transport costs, and the time within which goods will be dispatched or delivered. Section 48 says an order must be filled within fourteen days unless you and the buyer agree otherwise, and if the item is unavailable you must tell the buyer immediately and refund within seven days.
In ads, promise what your slowest normal delivery can meet. "Same day in Accra and Tema, 3 to 9 days to other regions, delivery from GHS 25" beats "fast nationwide delivery", because it answers the buyer's real question. Meta has said it surveys people who buy after clicking an ad about whether shipping was timely, and that a significant amount of negative feedback can lead to ad restrictions, financial penalties or disabled accounts.
On the store, set delivery zones with fees that show before payment, and repeat the same words in your Instagram highlight, WhatsApp catalog and order confirmation. When we audit Ghanaian stores, a delivery fee that first appears in a WhatsApp message after checkout is one of the leaks we flag most. Our free Ads & Store Audit reviews your store, Instagram or ads and sends a short video on WhatsApp within 2 working days, with the three fixes that matter most.
