The Payment Systems Act 662 of 2003 set Ghana on a path towards a system of electronic transactions. The cash-lite initiative envisions a transition from a cash-dependent economy to one that is heavily reliant on bank cards, mobile money, internet payments and other forms of modern cashless transactions. Since the act was passed, the Bank of...
Lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana has slowed in late 2016. In light of rising non-performing loans (NPLs) in 2015, banks have slimmed down their lending books significantly. With interest rates for blue-chip borrowers in established sectors of the economy surpassing 30%, rates for SMEs can often go far higher. This...
Working in concert with the International Finance Corporation, Ghana passed the Credit Reporting Act of 2007, which established licensing and operational guidelines for the credit referencing industry, and obliged financial institutions to share data with licensed credit bureaus. Since that time, Ghana has been slowly building its credit...
The Ghanaian banking sector had a difficult year in 2015, amid weakening macroeconomic conditions in the country. Growth fell below the rate seen in 2014, while non-performing loans (NPLs) rose significantly. However, the sector remains one of the economy’s brightest performers, and the large unbanked population offers plenty of scope for...
As part of the three-year fiscal consolidation programme with the IMF that began in 2015, Ghana is looking to accomplish three overarching goals: ensure macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability; promote growth, development and job creation; and maintain social spending to protect the vulnerable. To meet these goals, the Ministry of...
Like many sub-Saharan African countries, Ghana faces the challenge of formalising a very substantial informal sector that operates primarily outside of the government’s purview. According to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), 46.1% of the labour force was employed in the agriculture sector in 2013. Outside of agriculture, 77.7% of the labour...
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