Weeks after the deadline of December 31, 2018, given to Ghanaian commercial banks to increase their social capital, the government has elaborated a special investment vehicle for banks that were unable to comply with the new regulation.

"The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, concerned about the difficulties such well-run, solvent Ghanaian-owned banks were likely to face in raising capital on their own, set up a committee to explore various options available for these banks in order to retain and strengthen local interest in the banking sector", the finance ministry informed in a release.

The said banks are the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), the National Investment Bank (NIB), the OmniBank Ghana Ltd / Bank Sahel Sahara Ghana (OmniBank / BSIC), Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) and Prudential Bank. This decision is diversely appreciated by actors because the governor of the central bank was firm on the matter.

At the Ghanaian ministry of finance, actors are keeping from saying that it is the replenishment of private banks with public funds. According to officials, it is strategic support to local creditworthy and reliable banks to help them go through this difficult stage of the capital increase.

The funds are to be raised via a 120 million cedis ($24.5 million) bond issuance that will be listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. The investors targeted by this operation are private pension funds notably, but a large public also. The banks that will benefit from this programme will be supported in their management to ensure that they fund the debt.

Idriss Linge