News Guide Africa

Category: Economy and Finance

  • Ghana anchors Lithium Strategy on mandatory local processing and future battery ecosystem

    Ghana anchors Lithium Strategy on mandatory local processing and future battery ecosystem

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed

    In a major policy shift aimed at dismantling Africa’s historic “extract and export” commodities model, the Government of Ghana has announced a strict, value-addition mandate for its emerging critical minerals sector.

    Under the new directive, any future exploitation of the nation’s commercially viable lithium deposits must be legally bound to domestic refining, processing, and downstream industrial integration.

    The announcement, delivered at the opening of the 19th edition of the West African Mining and Power Expo (WAMPEX) in Accra, marks a definitive line in the sand for international mining conglomerates. Rather than allowing raw lithium ores or basic concentrates to leave Ghanaian ports unchecked, the state is positioning itself to capture a significant share of the global electric vehicle (EV) supply chain, with an ultimate eye on establishing a full-scale domestic battery manufacturing industry.

    Rewriting the Extractive Paradigm

    Addressing an international assembly of mining executives, investors, and regional policymakers, Lands and Natural Resources Minister Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah outlined a comprehensive strategy designed to maximize the economic returns of Ghana’s sovereign mineral wealth.

    “Ghana is taking deliberate steps to move up the mining value chain from extraction to refining, processing, and industrial use so that more of the value generated from our mineral resources is retained within the national economy,” Minister Armah-Kofi Buah stated.

    The Minister emphasized that international demand for green transition minerals driven by global net-zero mandates presents African nations with a historic, time-sensitive window to industrialize. However, he warned that this opportunity would be entirely squandered if governments repeat the historical mistakes made with gold, timber, and raw bauxite.

    “As global demand for lithium, a critical input for modern technologies, continues to rise, Ghana is committed to ensuring that its lithium resources are not simply extracted and exported as raw materials, but that value addition takes place here in Ghana,” Buah maintained.

    No Lithium Without Batteries: A Direct Ultimatum to Investors

    The government’s industrialization blueprint explicitly links resource access to technology transfer and secondary infrastructure development. Drawing parallels to ongoing state-backed initiatives like the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation (GIADEC) and the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC) which seek to build integrated, domestic mine-to-smelter supply chains the Minister stated that the lithium strategy will follow an equally rigid value-retention framework.

    The state’s ultimate objective is to feed processed lithium carbonate and hydroxide directly into local manufacturing hubs capable of supplying lithium-ion packs to the global automotive market.

    “Lithium’s ultimate product is batteries that are needed for the vehicles of the future,” Minister Armah-Kofi Buah remarked during his keynote presentation.

    Issuing a clear directive to foreign entities eyeing the country’s lithium tenements, including the world-class Ewoyaa Project in the Central Region, the Minister added: “Anybody who comes to talk about lithium should also be talking to us about how those batteries will ultimately be produced in Ghana.”

    Navigating Volatility and Global Competition

    The policy shift arrives at a critical juncture for the domestic mining ecosystem. Following a prolonged legislative debate over equity distributions and sliding-scale royalty formulas, Ghana’s Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) has aggressively scaled up direct state participation in the lithium sector, securing enhanced carried interests to protect national revenue margins.

    However, international commodity analysts warn that transitioning from a raw exporter to a high-tech processing hub requires substantial capital injections and highly reliable energy grids. Setting up advanced chemical refining facilities requires specialized infrastructure, consistent electricity pricing, and a highly skilled technical workforce.

    Furthermore, global lithium markets have faced intense price volatility since 2023, exposing mining projects to significant financing pressures. Despite these global headwinds, Ghanaian officials maintain that domestic processing is the only viable path to economic sovereignty.

    By enforcing local-content protocols and demanding downstream manufacturing pipelines, Ghana aims to set a new precedent for resource governance in West Africa transitioning from a traditional supplier of raw commodities into a self-sustaining hub for the global clean energy frontier.

     

  • Agriculture, not mining, remains Ghana’s leading driver of deforestation – Forestry Commission Chief reveals

    Agriculture, not mining, remains Ghana’s leading driver of deforestation – Forestry Commission Chief reveals

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed

    In a major reassessment of Ghana’s environmental landscape, the Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission has revealed that agricultural expansion, driven heavily by cocoa farming and food crop cultivation, remains the single largest contributor to the nation’s rapidly depleting forest cover.

    The announcement shifts the focus of the environmental debate. While illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as galamsey, frequently dominates public discourse and media headlines due to its highly visible devastation of water bodies, structural data shows that the silent, steady clearing of virgin trees for farmlands poses the greatest long-term threat to the country’s forest reserves.

    Confronting the Data: The Silent Threat of the Plow

    Speaking at an environmental conservation brief, Dr Hugh C.A Brown, emphasized that addressing ecological decline requires an honest evaluation of land-use data. While acknowledging that illegal surface mining causes catastrophic, highly localized pollution, the sheer geographic footprint of agricultural encroachment makes it a far more pervasive agent of permanent deforestation.

    “We are not downplaying the severe devastation caused by illegal mining; its greed and environmental toll are undeniable,” the Forestry Commission CEO stated. “But if we are to be guided by data and science in our quest to protect Ghana’s remaining green canopies, we must confront the uncomfortable truth: unsustainable agricultural expansion remains our biggest driver of forest loss.”

    Sovereign tracking data shows that West Africa’s primary rainforests are highly vulnerable, with thousands of hectares lost annually. Much of this land transition is driven by smallholders clearing boundary lines to plant high-demand cash crops like cocoa, oil palm, and rubber, alongside food staples like cocoyam, plantain, and cassava.

    “A significant portion of our high forest zone has been converted over the decades into agricultural land,” the CEO explained. “Because small-scale farmers often rely on traditional slash-and-burn methods and lack access to modern agro-inputs that optimize yields on existing plots, they naturally expand outward into pristine, protected forest reserves.”

    The Cocoa Paradox: Balancing Livelihoods and Ecology

    The revelation underscores a complex socio-economic paradox for the country. Cocoa is the financial backbone of rural Ghana, providing direct livelihoods for over 700,000 smallholders and serving as a vital source of foreign exchange for the national economy.

    However, the historical practice of clearing dense forest canopies to expose rich, virgin soils to young cocoa plants has created a severe ecological imbalance. Experts note that when farmers use aggressive chemical weedicides and clearing methods, they inadvertently destroy the natural microbial systems and tree species such as mahogany and rosewood that are vital for soil regeneration.

    “This is not an indictment of our hardworking farmers,” an agency policy analyst noted during a technical breakout session. “It is an indictment of our historic farming models. When farmlands become degraded due to continuous, unscientific cropping, the farmer sees no option but to step deeper into the forest. We must break this cycle by making existing farms more productive, eliminating the economic incentive to clear more forest trees.”

    From Fragmentation to Climate-Smart Agroforestry

    To counter this trend without endangering national food security or rural incomes, the Forestry Commission is stepping up collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and international conservation bodies. The focus is shifting toward large-scale implementations of the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme (GCFRP), an initiative aimed at lowering emissions by integrating high-value economic trees directly into active crop fields.

    The commission is also tightening its geospatial monitoring to map encroachment boundaries in real-time, working closely with traditional authorities to enforce boundary lines across vulnerable ecological zones like the Tano-Offin and Bia Tano forest reserves.

    Regulatory enforcement officers emphasize that legal frameworks must adapt to support smallholder compliance. This involves providing rural communities with technical support to adopt climate-smart agriculture, introducing shade-grown cocoa techniques, and offering alternative income sources during off-seasons. By pivoting from open-ended land clearing toward intensive, sustainable canopy management, Ghana aims to preserve its status as a global agricultural leader while safeguarding its remaining natural forests.

     

  • Ghana launches $3.5b ‘AgriConnect’ Compact to weaponize agric against youth unemployment

    Ghana launches $3.5b ‘AgriConnect’ Compact to weaponize agric against youth unemployment

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed

    In a decisive and historic bid to rewrite the economic narrative of the sub-region, the Government of Ghana, in partnership with the World Bank Group and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has officially launched the multi-billion-dollar AgriConnect Compact.

    The landmark national framework, unveiled at the West Africa Rice Investment Roundtable in Accra on Wednesday, represents a massive $3.5 billion investment targeted at modernizing the country’s agri-food systems.

    Operating in its first phase from 2026 to 2030, the initiative aims to dramatically bolster food security for nearly three million citizens, slash hefty national food import bills, and, most critically, catalyze the creation of more than 2.6 million high-value jobs across the continent by 2035.

    The Answer to Africa’s Unemployment Crisis

    The launch arrives at a time when youth unemployment remains a volatile socio-economic challenge across Sub-Saharan Africa. Speaking passionately at the launch event, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, advanced a bold vision of the soil as Africa’s truest goldmine, insisting that modern farming is the silver bullet to the continent’s job deficit.

    “AgriConnect is about turning Ghana’s agricultural potential into tangible results: more food on the table, more jobs for young people, and more value created here at home,” Minister Opoku declared. “This Compact provides a clear roadmap to modernize agriculture, support farmers, and build stronger value chains that can drive growth nationwide.”

    The Minister fiercely challenged the archaic perception of farming as a grueling, low-income occupation reserved for the elderly, arguing that the integration of digital technology, mechanization, and agro-processing alters the paradigm completely.

    “Agriculture can eliminate youth unemployment in Africa. This is Ghana’s moment to feed itself, employ its youth, build competitive industries, and create wealth from its own soil,” Opoku added.

    An Ambitious $3.5 Billion Blueprint

    The AgriConnect Compact is designed as a private sector-led, government-enabled strategy. Rather than merely boosting raw crop yields, the framework seeks to build end-to-end, integrated value chains. It explicitly prioritizes five strategic national sectors: cocoa, oil palm, rice, maize, and poultry, alongside secondary interventions in fisheries, coconut, and the forest economy.

    Financing the ambitious five-year initial phase will require an estimated $3.5 billion. Funding is expected to be pooled from public coffers, international development partners, and the aggressive crowding-in of private institutional capital. Demonstrating state commitment, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture revealed it has already released GH¢1.677 billion representing 85% of its approved 2026 capital and goods budget to scale up rural irrigation, distribution of high-yield seeds, and fertilizer logistics.

    Thomas Nyarko Ampem, the Deputy Minister of Finance, emphasized that the state’s fiscal policy is now firmly aligned with rural industrialization.

    “The Government of Ghana remains fully committed to working with all stakeholders to translate the aspirations of this AgriConnect Compact into tangible results for our people,” Deputy Minister Ampem stated. He noted that building a resilient rural economy saves critical foreign exchange by substituting imports with high-quality, homegrown alternatives.

    Global Backing for a Continental Model

    Ghana’s entry into the AgriConnect framework follows similar rollouts in Senegal and Guinea earlier this year, marking a rapidly growing continental movement backed by the World Bank Group. The global AgriConnect initiative aims to transform farming for 300 million smallholders worldwide by 2030, supported by heavyweights like the African Development Bank (AfDB), Google, and Bayer.

    Guangzhe Chen, the World Bank Group Vice President for Planet, flew into the capital for the launch and praised Ghana’s comprehensive structural approach.

    “Ghana’s AgriConnect Compact is a bold step toward building a more productive, resilient, and jobs-rich food system,” Chen noted during his address. “By linking policy reform with investment and delivery, Ghana is creating the conditions to strengthen food security, support farmers and agribusinesses, and unlock private capital at scale.”

    Echoing this optimism, Lakshmi Moola, the IFAD Country Director for Ghana, highlighted the focus on human-centered growth and poverty alleviation.

    “Through AgriConnect, IFAD is deepening its commitment to end rural poverty and build resilient, inclusive food systems in Ghana,” Moola stated. “Together with partners, we are scaling investments that deliver jobs, opportunity, and lasting impact for rural communities.”

    The Road Ahead: Execution is Everything

    Economic analysts have largely lauded the pact, noting that generating an average of 520,000 jobs annually over the next few years could profoundly stabilize the domestic economy. However, experts also warn that the ultimate success of the $3.5 billion bet relies entirely on steady, transparent implementation, infrastructural development like rural roads, and lowering the high credit barriers currently facing young agribusiness entrepreneurs.

    With the framework now officially signed and heavily funded, the eyes of the continent will be on Ghana to see if its soil can successfully absorb and empower the next generation of African workers.

     

  • SSNIT moves to eliminate long queues with aggressive portal push and 7-day claim processing

    SSNIT moves to eliminate long queues with aggressive portal push and 7-day claim processing

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed

    The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has launched an aggressive digital-first strategy designed to fundamentally transform its service delivery architecture, vowing to eliminate the notorious long queues at its district offices by shifting the vast majority of operations online.

    As part of this comprehensive structural shift, the Trust revealed a drastic reduction in its pension claims processing timeline, which has plummeted from several months to an average of just seven days. Furthermore, management aggressively debunked lingering public anxieties regarding the long-term viability of the national pension fund, declaring the scheme completely stable and financially equipped to pay out full benefits for the next forty years.

    Speaking at a stakeholder engagement forum in Accra, the newly appointed Director-General of SSNIT, Kwesi Afreh Biney, emphasized that physical branches should no longer be the primary point of contact for routine transactions.

    “Digital must be the default mode of engagement for all SSNIT members,” Biney declared. “There is absolutely no structural reason why a contributor should spend productive hours standing in line to check a statement, merge an identity profile, or initiate a basic data update. We have built an omnichannel digital architecture that matches global standards, and our immediate operational priority is pushing our members online to end these legacy queues permanently.”

    The Adoption Barrier: A Shift in User Culture

    While the technical infrastructure is fully active, the Trust acknowledges that the primary bottleneck is no longer technology, but rather human behavior and the persistent cultural preference for physical, face-to-face transactions.

    Addressing ICT personnel and customer service heads, Director-General Biney noted that tech deployment is only half the battle.

    “The biggest hurdle we face today isn’t the technology itself it’s getting Ghanaians to actually trust and use it,” Biney explained. “We have a deeply entrenched corporate culture across the country where citizens feel a sense of security only when they hold a stamped piece of paper from an official in an office. We are rolling out nationwide digital literacy campaigns and deploying on-site digital ambassadors at our branches to hand-hold visitors through the self-service web portals and mobile applications until they are comfortable doing it from home.”

    This behavioral shift is already paying dividends for the subset of users who have embraced the digital ecosystem, particularly in the speed of benefit payouts. The integration of the Ghana Card with SSNIT numbers and the automation of verification workflows have eliminated the bureaucratic bottlenecks that historically plagued retirement processing.

    “We have broken the bureaucratic wheel that made pension processing an institutional nightmare,” the Director-General stated. “From a historical legacy where clearing a pension claim dragged on for months, creating immense distress for retirees, SSNIT now processes and clears valid pension claims in just seven days. Once the data aligns digitally, the capital release is immediate.”

    Four Decades of Financial Runway

    The aggressive digital overhaul comes at a critical time as civil society organizations and labor unions continue to demand rigorous transparency regarding the solvency of the First-Tier pension scheme.

    Responding directly to these fiscal anxieties, the Director-General gave an unreserved guarantee of the fund’s long-term sustainability, backed by recent independent actuarial valuations.

    “Let me be categorization clear to all Ghanaian workers: the SSNIT pension scheme is completely sustainable, liquid, and fundamentally robust,” the Director-General assured. “Our structured asset diversification, strict enforcement of statutory collections, and the recent upward adjustment of our monthly insurable earnings ceiling to GH¢69,000 ensure that the Trust has the financial runway to pay out full, uncompromised benefits for the next 40 years without structural distress. Your investments are secure.”

    Laudable Expanding Social Impact: Telehealth for Pensioners

    Beyond financial governance and portal updates, the Trust is earning praise for expanding its mandate into the broader socioeconomic well-being of its most vulnerable stakeholders.

    SSNIT recently unveiled a pioneering Telehealth Service in collaboration with the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and The Trust Hospital, allowing its 267,000 active pensioners to consult qualified medical practitioners via a dedicated toll-free line (0800-877-555) or shortcode (*929#) without leaving their homes.

    The health initiative drew high praise from external regulators, including leadership from the National Pensioners Association (NPA), who commended SSNIT for moving beyond purely transactional relationships to embrace holistic social care.

    “Our telehealth platform represents an important evolution in institutional thinking,” Biney remarked during the launch event. “It reflects a critical shift from being primarily a transactional pension administrator to becoming a more holistic social impact organization concerned with the broader physical well-being of our senior citizens. We are leveraging simple, accessible telecom technology to bring primary healthcare directly to the doorstep of the vulnerable.”

    With a four-decade financial guarantee, a compressed 7-day claim cycle, and a new digital health network, the onus now rests on the Ghanaian working public to embrace the online tools provided and move the trust fully into the digital age.

     

     

  • GRA deploys ITAS to track wealth via 15 State Agencies …targets GH₵310bn revenue by 2028

    GRA deploys ITAS to track wealth via 15 State Agencies …targets GH₵310bn revenue by 2028

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed

    The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has launched a sweeping digital offensive to transform tax administration in the country, unveiling its new Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS).

    The modern tech rollout is tied to an aggressive mobilization strategy aimed at broadening the tax net and doubling Ghana’s domestic revenue to GH₵310 billion by December 2028.

    Speaking during a stakeholder engagement with business association leaders, media personnel, and tax professionals in Accra, the GRA Commissioner-General, Anthony Sarpong, emphasized that ITAS is designed to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks, improve customer experience, and enforce strict, mutual accountability between tax officials and the public.

    Driving Efficiencies and Mutual Accountability

    The rollout of ITAS marks a departure from traditional, cumbersome tax processes. According to the revenue authority, the platform leverages automation to make filing timely, accurate, and seamless, while introducing built-in Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that track operational timelines for both the state and the taxpayer.

    “ITAS is a system that actually holds both GRA officials and the taxpayer accountable,” the Commissioner-General stated during a voice interview after the session. “Within ITAS, there are timelines for completing activities… If a taxpayer makes a request to GRA, it will show the timeline that GRA must respond to the taxpayer. And if we are not responding, ITAS will continue to give the feedback to the taxpayer that the activity has elapsed its completion timeline.”

     

    The Commissioner-General noted that while ITAS is the definitive technology for the current economic landscape, the authority remains adaptable to future innovations.

    “In today’s world, we believe that ITAS is the appropriate technology we have to use. But as you know, technology changes with time. And therefore, when technology changes and is no longer needed, we will have the responsibility to change.”

    15 State Agencies to Integrate by December

    To capture individuals and entities operating outside the traditional tax net, the GRA is executing an aggressive data-integration blueprint. By linking ITAS with key state databases, the authority aims to build a 360-degree view of economic citizens based on their real-world consumption and asset acquisition.

    The systemic integration is scheduled to begin in July this year, with a targeted completion deadline of December for all 15 earmarked institutions.

     

    Target Integration Agency Operational Trigger for ITAS

    Registrar of Companies Automatic ITAS enrollment upon registering a sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporate entity.

    SSNIT Cross-referencing pension contributions to verify employment and business income.

    National Identification Authority (NIA) Utilizing the Ghana Card to map individual economic profiles.

    DVLA Tracking luxury vehicle registrations (e.g., vehicles worth $20,000 to GH₵300,000) to match asset values against declared income.

    Passport Authority Monitoring travel data and cross-border business activity to flags potential tax mismatches.

    “Our plans are both targeting for those who are in the net and those who are not,” the GRA Chief explained. “We are going to integrate with other government systems… so that every citizen, every business, as they operate within government systems and operate in Ghana, at the point that they surface, ITAS will be able to connect with them.”

    The Commissioner-General provided a clear example of how this cross-agency data tracking will function in practice:

    “If you are registering your vehicle, we will see that you are registering a vehicle worth $20,000 or 300,000 Cedis. And ITAS will ask, ‘Is this person paying tax?’ If not, they will just approach you to let you pay a little bit of your income.”

     

    Simplifying Taxes for the Informal Sector

    Addressing the long-standing challenge of the informal sector which constitutes approximately 30% of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but contributes marginally to total tax revenues the GRA highlighted its Modified Taxation Scheme, originally launched in November 2025.

    The scheme addresses the three main barriers deterrent to informal compliance: complex paperwork, distant tax offices, and rigid payment structures. It simplifies filing for small-scale operators such as artisans, barbers, and salon owners earning under GH₵500,000 annually.

    “One of the challenges we found for the informal sector is that if there’s a complex return… they will not file the return,” the Commissioner-General observed. “So we said we have to make tax payment and returns simple. Number two, they will not leave their place of work and look at the nicety of GRA and move to offices. So GRA has to meet them at the point of their work.”

    Stakeholders Call for Public Education and Fiscal Prudence

    Reacting to the development, social commentator and public advocate Alistair Tyrell Nelson lauded the introduction of ITAS as a vital mechanism for single-point tax payments, emphasizing that the system must move away from heavy-handed enforcement toward voluntary compliance.

    “ITAS is a very good thing. It’s a single-point payment of tax that will encourage everybody to come,” Nelson stated. “They want to make tax more simple, more friendly, to allow more people to pay. They don’t want to use the scarecrow mechanisms again.”

     

    Nelson noted that with current estimates suggesting nearly 80% of those supposed to be in the net face shortfalls or non-compliance, robust public sensitization is critical to bridging the gap.

    “There must be effective public education. It must go down to all taxpayers, those on tabletop businesses, those doing big businesses, to understand the system, appreciate it, and come along… If compliance gets to maximum, it means we’ll be collecting more with the same tax rates.”

    However, Nelson coupled his advocacy with a strong reminder to the government regarding fiscal accountability, noting that citizens need to see tangible developmental returns to remain motivated.

    “When people pay tax, we must also give them good returns so that they’ll be encouraged. If you go to the advanced countries, you see people rush to go and file their tax because of the returns they get. We must also be able to do those things here… We should use the collected monies wisely and effectively for the citizens to believe that paying taxes is a good thing,” Nelson concluded.

    The GRA is currently appealing to all business association leaders to mobilize their members for the upcoming phase of specialized ITAS training clinics, asserting that a collaborative approach will grow local businesses, stimulate employment, and secure national self-sufficiency.

     

  • Revolutionary COCOBOD Operations: Deputy CEO outlines domestic financing framework for crop purchases

    Revolutionary COCOBOD Operations: Deputy CEO outlines domestic financing framework for crop purchases

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed

    In a major structural shift for Ghana’s agricultural economy, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is finalizing an advanced homegrown funding regime that will fund cocoa purchases entirely through local investors.

    The new framework aims to fully replace the long-standing tradition of offshore syndicated loans with a domestic commercial paper programme. The primary capital sources for the new architecture will tap directly into domestic pension funds, local commercial banks, and key private actors within the cocoa value chain.

    Speaking on the sidelines of the Ghana-UK Investment Summit in London, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Finance and Administration at COCOBOD, Mr. Ato Boateng, revealed that the board has successfully engaged key transaction advisors to ensure a seamless rollout ahead of the upcoming crop season.

    “We’ve made significant progress and have hired all the advisors we need to launch the issuance,” Mr. Boateng stated during the summit. “The advisors are working hard on the structure of the financing, which is almost finalised, to address all regulatory concerns raised by the relevant parties.”

    Tapping into local pension wealth

    The fundamental pillar of the domestic strategy centers on the country’s vast pension fund sector, which manages approximately GH¢100 billion in total assets. Under current investment regulations, these funds have the flexibility to allocate a substantial portion of their portfolios to safe, state-backed instruments.

    Explaining the core philosophy behind the shift, Boateng emphasized the immense opportunity presented by domestic liquidity.

    “The whole idea is for COCOBOD to raise funds internally, and we are looking at three different sources. The first source is pension funds,” Boateng explained. He further noted the scale of the available capital, stating, “We could potentially tap into 35% of the 100 billion cedis.”

    Innovative partnerships with commercial banks

    Beyond retirement funds, local commercial banks will form the second core pillar of the financing ecosystem. Acknowledging existing regulatory constraints and exposure limits within the banking sector, the Deputy CEO revealed that COCOBOD is deploying innovative structures to lower risk and expand capacity.

    “We need to be very innovative because we also want banks to actively participate,” Boateng said. “As such, we will look at bringing in Development Finance Institutions to expand the lending capacity of the banks.”

    The third and final pillar of the framework will focus on private placements targeted directly at players within the cocoa production line, including international trade buyers and local private operators. “We also want to bring in our industry stakeholders,” he noted.

    Tailored to the cocoa purchasing cycle

    To ensure the programme matches the physical trade realities of the sector, COCOBOD is designing a short-term, high-liquidity financial instrument. The institution is proposing a 270-day commercial paper instrument, which translates to a nine-month maturity period specifically tailored to fit the seasonal peak of cocoa harvesting.

    “What we are proposing is a 270-day commercial paper, meaning a nine-month maturity. It is essentially a working capital facility because our season runs from September through January, which is when we purchase about 70% of our produce,” Boateng detailed.

    To optimize efficiency and avoid the heavy burden of unutilized debt, COCOBOD plans to steer clear of lump-sum borrowing. Instead, the board will adopt a staggered, demand-driven funding schedule.

    “The idea is to structure the funding in tranches so that we draw only what we need for purchases,” Boateng explained. “When the funds are no longer needed, we repay investors to ensure the money is used strictly for its intended purpose.”

    A sovereign solution for financial stability

    The official stressed that the programme is being developed in close consultation with market advisors and state regulatory authorities to guarantee a successful launch, asserting, “It will be entirely locally financed.”

    This sweeping overhaul comes on the heels of broader fiscal reforms ordered by the government to clean up COCOBOD’s balance sheet, insulate the local currency from foreign exchange volatility, and guarantee prompt payments to Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) and smallholder farmers. By shifting to a cedi-denominated commercial notes programme, the country expects to build deep financial self-reliance for its mainstay crop while completely eliminating the heavy interest and ancillary costs tied to external borrowing.

     

  • BoG reforms trigger new era for ‘Community Banking’ …ARB Apex Bank targets well-capitalized rural lenders

    BoG reforms trigger new era for ‘Community Banking’ …ARB Apex Bank targets well-capitalized rural lenders

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed 

    In a decisive move to secure the financial foundations of rural economies, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has introduced a sweeping set of regulatory reforms aimed at restructuring the community banking sector.

    The initiative is designed to transition Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) away from thin capitalization thresholds toward robust, highly capitalized structures capable of absorbing macroeconomic shocks and aggressively financing local businesses.

    Speaking on the impact of these incoming regulations, the Managing Director of ARB Apex Bank, the umbrella support institution for rural banks in Ghana, emphasized that the reforms should not be viewed as a punitive measure, but as a crucial modernization effort.

    Building Pillars of Financial Resilience

    According to regional banking executives, many smaller community banks have historically operated on marginal capital buffers, leaving them vulnerable during periods of regional crop failures or national inflation cycles. The central bank’s updated framework seeks to address these structural vulnerabilities by raising minimum capital requirements and tightening governance compliance across the entire sector.

    “The ultimate goal of the Bank of Ghana’s regulatory reforms is to build well-capitalized, resilient, and highly secure financial institutions at the community level,” the Managing Director of ARB Apex Bank stated during a strategic industry review.

    He explained that a well-capitalized rural bank is better positioned to deploy modern digital banking systems, lower lending rates, and provide secure savings vehicles for populations that remain excluded from large commercial urban banks. “When a community bank is financially fortified, the entire local economy wins from the smallholder farmer to the cross-border market woman,” he added.

    Overcoming Resistance to Capital Reorientation

    While some rural stakeholders expressed early anxieties that higher capital demands might force closures or involuntary mergers, leadership at ARB Apex Bank reassured the public that the institution is actively working to guide rural lenders through the transition. The focus is on consolidating fractional shareholding and encouraging local investors to inject fresh equity into their home-borough banks.

     

    “We are not looking to phase out community banking; we are looking to fortify it,” an Apex Bank policy strategist noted. “Our focus is to provide the technical backing, liquidity support, and corporate governance training required to ensure every compliant rural bank crosses this new regulatory finish line smoothly.”

    Banking analysts have widely praised the central bank’s timing, noting that as national economic frameworks stabilize, rural economies require strong, localized financial partners to sustain growth. By enforcing stricter capital discipline today, the Bank of Ghana and ARB Apex Bank are ensuring that the institutions closest to the country’s agricultural and micro-enterprise engines are fully equipped to drive long-term rural wealth creation.

     

     

  • Ghana declares sovereign milestone, rejects future bailouts

    Ghana declares sovereign milestone, rejects future bailouts

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed

    In a historic address before Parliament, Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson declared a definitive end to Ghana’s era of financial dependence, asserting that the nation has officially turned the page on its history of seeking emergency economic lifelines.

    Following the successful completion of the country’s 16th emergency credit program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Dr. Forson announced that Ghana is shifting permanently away from financial rescue loans, moving from a status of economic vulnerability to a resilient $100 billion partnership.

    Reclaiming Economic Sovereignty

    Addressing a packed parliamentary chamber, the Finance Minister offered a sobering look back at the severe fiscal crisis that initially forced Ghana to negotiate a three-year, $3 billion IMF Extended Credit Facility (ECF). Highlighting a swift, targeted recovery driven by rigid fiscal reforms, Dr. Forson detailed a drastic transformation in the nation’s macroeconomic trajectory.

    “Never again must we allow recklessness, waste, and indiscipline to define how we handle the people’s money,” Dr. Forson stated emphatically from the plenary floor.

    He announced that public debt, which hovered at a staggering 61.8 percent of GDP at the end of 2024, dropped precipitously to 44.7 percent by the close of 2025. This rapid reduction allowed Ghana to meet its long-term statutory debt sustainability targets eight years ahead of its original legislative schedule. Concurrently, inflation cratered from a peak near 24 percent to single digits, while the Ghanaian cedi mounted a powerful 40.7 percent recovery against the US dollar.

    “The era of emergency IMF bailouts is over. Ghana has moved from a position of economic vulnerability to a position of strength, surging past the $100 billion economic threshold,” Dr. Forson declared.

    Shifting the IMF Relationship: From “ICU to Wellness Centre”

    Using a medical metaphor to describe the scale of the national recovery, Dr. Forson illustrated the shifting paradigm between Accra and international financial institutions. He emphasized that the country has built a strong protective cushion, moving past the stage where it requires foreign capital injections to defend its currency or balance its national books.

    “We have moved the Ghanaian economy from what I previously described as the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to a stable wellness centre,” Dr. Forson told lawmakers.

    The Finance Minister clarified that future interactions with the Washington-based lender will no longer be centered around conditional emergency financing. Instead, Ghana is transitioning into a non-financial Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) a purely monitoring and surveillance framework designed to signal continuous fiscal discipline to international markets without accumulating external sovereign debt.

    “Ghana’s future engagement with the IMF will now shift away from financial assistance towards policy reforms and technical cooperation,” Forson affirmed. “We do not expect to return to the IMF for another financial bailout in the foreseeable future. We have moved from being an emergency supplicant to an equal policy partner.”

    Locking in Structural Discipline

    To ensure the gains are permanent and to prevent the fiscal slippages that historically disrupted previous economic cycles, the administration has passed structural legislation designed to restrain future executive spending.

    Key changes include sweeping reforms to the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act, which legally binds the state to maintain a target debt ceiling and mandates an annual primary fiscal surplus. Furthermore, the newly operationalized Independent Fiscal Council and a specialized Compliance Desk at the Ministry of Finance will systematically audit state expenses to eliminate unbudgeted expenditures.

    Reflecting on the hard-fought progress, Dr. Forson noted that international investors have responded with renewed confidence. The country’s strategy relies heavily on maximizing internal resource mechanisms such as the domestic gold-backed reserves initiative to organically fund its infrastructure instead of taking on expensive foreign commercial loans.

    “We have a job to do, and we have started fixing the deep problems,” the Finance Minister concluded. “Ghana’s message to the global financial community is straightforward: we are doing the policy work, we are reinforcing our domestic institutions, and we have established the firm conditions required for our sovereign economic future to thrive independently.”

     

  • Investor confidence boosted as gov’t rules out mine nationalisation

    Investor confidence boosted as gov’t rules out mine nationalisation

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed

    The government has forcefully rejected claims of an impending policy shift toward the nationalisation of foreign-owned mining assets, moving swiftly to reassure the investor community that Ghana remains a stable, predictable, and market-driven destination for capital.

    The high-stakes policy clarification comes amid a firestorm of public debate surrounding the upcoming 2027 expiration and renewal of Gold Fields’ flagship Tarkwa mine lease, exposing a deep national divide between calls for localized resource sovereignty and the preservation of foreign direct investment (FDI).

    Speaking at the 19th edition of the West African Mining and Power Expo (WAMPEX) in Accra, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, declared that broad-scale asset expropriation is not on the cabinet’s agenda.

    “Nationalisation of mines is not government policy,” the Minister stated, clarifying that recent state interventions should not be misconstrued as aggressive resource nationalism. “The government has not adopted a blanket nationalisation policy to take advantage of the sector, but we are actively seeking mutually beneficial partnerships that will leave behind deep technical expertise and genuinely empower Ghanaians in the extractive industry.”

    Stricter Scrutiny, No Automatic Renewals

    Despite the state’s investor-friendly rhetoric, the regulator has made it clear that the era of rubber-stamping multi-decade mining concessions is over. The Minerals Commission has officially ruled out an automatic extension for Gold Fields’ Tarkwa mine a cornerstone asset in the Western Region that produced approximately 427,000 ounces of gold in 2025, valued at over $1 billion.

    The regulatory tension is heightened by the precedent set at Gold Fields’ Damang mine, where the government rejected a lease renewal application, assumed temporary operational control, and subsequently transferred operations to an indigenous Ghanaian firm, Engineers & Planners (E&P), following a competitive tender.

    Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Isaac Andrews Tandoh, confirmed that while the state is actively engaged in discussions with Gold Fields, the South African miner will face rigorous new benchmarks before securing a renewal.

    “It won’t be business as usual where we just automatically renew the lease,” Tandoh asserted. “The company must present its exhaustive, long-term development plans to our technical committee, followed by a ministerial-level justification. Mining companies must now show significantly stronger, verifiable commitments to local value creation, structural technology transfer, and sustainable community development.”

    Chamber of Mines Welcomes Assurances

    The government’s explicit rejection of nationalisation has injected a much-needed wave of relief through the formal business community. The Ghana Chamber of Mines warmly welcomed the Minister’s remarks, noting that clarity on the security of tenure is paramount to preventing capital flight.

    Addressing delegates at WAMPEX, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Mines, Dr. Ken Ashigbey, emphasized that handling mining leases on a transparent, lawful, case-by-case basis is the only way to safeguard Ghana’s international reputation.

    “These assurances reinforce Ghana’s commitment to maintaining a stable, predictable, and investment-friendly environment,” Dr. Ashigbey stated. “Regarding recent discussions of mining leases, the Minister’s clarification helps reinforce investor confidence at a time when policy certainty is critical. The future of mining in West Africa will not be defined solely by extraction, but by who adds value, processes minerals, and builds integrated ecosystems. We must achieve this through collaboration, not disruption.”

    The Backlash: Citizens Feel Shortchanged

    The escalating debate over the Tarkwa lease is fueled by a palpable groundswell of public dissatisfaction. For many mining communities and civil society groups, the visible environmental degradation and local poverty stand in stark contrast to the billions of dollars worth of gold shipped abroad.

    Natural resource governance expert and Co-Chair of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), Dr. Steve Manteaw, observed that the intense public scrutiny surrounding Gold Fields is a symptom of a much larger socioeconomic grievance.

    “Before the controversy surrounding the renewal of Gold Fields’ Tarkwa mining lease, few mining applications had generated such intense public interest,” Dr. Manteaw said in an interview on Joy News’ PM Express. “There is a widespread, growing perception that resource-rich Ghana is being shortchanged despite decades of mineral extraction. People feel that as resource owners, we are not getting enough, and they want to flip it over to Ghanaians so that greater value is retained in-country.”

    Dr. Manteaw noted that while the current administration’s rhetorical agenda aims to “indigenise the industry and put Ghanaians in the commanding heights of the economy,” the state must tread carefully.

    A Warning Against Sentiment and Populism

    While backing the principle of larger state and indigenous stakes in natural resources, Dr. Manteaw issued a stern warning to policymakers against capitulating to emotional or populist demands that ignore economic realities, backing earlier remarks made by Adnan Adams Mohammed, a veteran journalist and mining Health and Safety Professional.

    “I welcome the call for Ghana to acquire a more substantial stake in our mineral sector, but we need to talk about strategy and not base our actions on pure sentiment,” Manteaw warned. “There is a complex way in which this industry operates. If you don’t get the strategy right, you can put a world-class mine into Ghanaian hands and actually lose out entirely, because local actors may lack the massive capital balance sheets required to sustain production levels.”

    Instead of abrupt ownership seizures, Manteaw proposed structural fiscal reforms, pointing out that Ghana’s historic direct control of mines in the 1970s and 1980s resulted in severe operational inefficiencies and catastrophic financial losses until FDI rescued the sector.

    “What we fundamentally need to fix is the local management and deployment of mineral revenues by district assemblies and central government, which currently favors recurrent expenditure over capital development,” Manteaw argued. He further urged the state to restructure its standard 10% free-carried interest into production-linked equity, ensuring the state receives physical gold rather than waiting years for corporate dividends that may never be declared.

    As the April 2027 expiration date for the Tarkwa concession approaches, the executive branch, parliament, and civil society remain locked in a delicate balancing act: satisfying a domestic population hungry for economic sovereignty without triggering an investor panic that could derail the broader economy.

     

  • ‘Don’t bet against the cedi’ – BoG talks tough on currency hoarding as forex demand jumps

    ‘Don’t bet against the cedi’ – BoG talks tough on currency hoarding as forex demand jumps

    By Adnan Adams Mohammed

    The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has mounted a strong defense of the local currency, issuing a stern warning to businesses, financial institutions, and the public to desist from speculative currency hoarding.

    The central bank maintains that the country’s economic fundamentals remain robust, despite renewed depreciation pressures pushing the cedi to trade at GH¢12.30 against the US dollar at various forex bureaus.

    Speaking at the 6th edition of the annual Money Summit in Accra, organized by the Business and Financial Times (BFT) under the theme “Building Trust, Capital, and Stability for Ghana’s Economic Future,” the Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mrs. Matilda Asante-Asiedu, emphasized that recent market behaviors are heavily driven by fear rather than actual economic indicators.

    “The fundamentals of this economy do not reward speculation against our currency. I urge every actor, because we’ve seen that semblance in the market, whether you’re a bank, you’re an importer, you’re an exporter, or you’re an investor, to transact on genuine and present needs, not out of fear and panic,” Mrs. Asante-Asiedu stated during her address to industry stakeholders.

     

    A Lesson from History

    The central bank’s intervention follows data showing the cedi depreciated by 0.94% week-on-week against the US dollar, 0.70% against the British pound, and 1.24% against the Euro, bringing its year-to-date loss against the greenback to 10.14%.

    Reminding market participants of the volatility of speculative trading, Mrs. Asante-Asiedu referenced the severe losses suffered by hoarders during previous market corrections.

    “We all saw the lessons plainly last year. Those who bet against the cedi and hoarded foreign currency soon found themselves on the wrong side of the trade, unwinding at a loss as the currency staged one of the world’s strongest recoveries through 2025. And the traders amongst us will tell you, there was a time when people who had held now began to dump,” she cautioned.

     

    The Deputy Governor assured businesses that the central bank possesses adequate reserves to manage genuine forex demands, highlighting the success of the Ghana Gold Reserve Accumulation Programme (GOLDRAP) in strengthening the country’s import cover.

    “Our reserves continue to build, and they are there as buffers to help us support this economy. The Bank will maintain a firm but responsive monetary policy stance aimed at anchoring inflation expectations and ensuring price stability,” she added.

     

    Market Pressures Persist

    Despite the assurances from the regulator, operators in the informal currency market report that intense demand pressures are likely to persist through the month. Analysts point to strong dollar demand from corporate entities, particularly manufacturing and energy sector companies, coupled with structural backlogs from recent central bank foreign exchange auctions.

    At forex bureaus across the capital, a dollar is currently averaging GH¢12.30, a marginal slide that market analysts describe as a “downside bias” driven by an mismatch between immediate demand and available supply.

    Commenting on the broader financial ecosystem, Ms. Regina Ofori, Head of Marketing and Brands at Ecobank Ghana, noted that overcoming these cyclical currency shocks requires deep collaboration across the entire financial services value chain.

    “Coordinated efforts among banks, pension funds, insurance firms, and regulators are essential for sustainable economic growth. Fragmentation weakens outcomes while collaboration strengthens resilience, investment, and recovery,” Ms. Ofori remarked.

    Echoing similar sentiments on economic resilience, the Chief Executive Officer of the BFT, Dr. Godwin Acquaye, stressed the importance of moving beyond short-term recovery toward building a solid, trust-based financial architecture