Ghana Banking Sector: Why Invest in Ghana Now?

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With all these things in place, the Chief Executive Officer of UT Bank, Mr Prince Kofi Amoabeng, believes the financial sector and the banks in particular are well positioned to support the economic growth of the country. He said in an interview that recent developments in the financial sector has on the whole been good: “In the banking sector specifically there has been a lot of competition. We had Nigerian banks come in and a number of banks, perhaps around 27 banks, and that has got in its wake a lot of competition and modernisation with a lot of investment in technology. So, we are quite modernised; nearly all the banks have visa cards, which enables easy mobility and are easier to manage. There’s e-banking, there’s also – probably ahead of western countries – mobile banking, which a lot of banks are pursuing. Its quite vibrant and very competitive and I think it’s ultimately good for the consumer,” Mr Amoabeng said. Thus, the Ghanaian banking community is now ready to support people invest in the economy and that is reflected in their balance sheets.

That notwithstanding, the Managing Director of the Ghana Commercial Bank, Mr Simon Dornoo, said more still needed to be done. To him, policy makers like the central bank needed to help create bigger banks and improve chess to banking rather than concentrating on increasing the numbers: “The debate is about whether or not there are too many banks [and] I’ve always argued from the point of view that Ghana needs strong banks, not too many banks. If it is about access banking, then stronger banks are in a better position to deliver that objective because of the relatively large capital base. I think policy makers should design policies that improve access to banking without imposing huge supervisory costs that tend to be associated with having too many banks.”

And for investors that are thinking twice about investment opportunities in the country, Mr Dornoo said Ghana is the place to invest in now: “Ghana is clearly an attractive destination. First of all, the Ease-of-Doing business Index shows that Ghana’s business environment is trending in the right direction. [Also], very few countries in the world are growing at eight percent and the medium to long term outlook continues to be very positive.”

“Ghana is also strategically positioned in terms of proximity to key markets in Europe so the country has major cost advantages such as freight cost for the horticulture or fresh fruit industries. Secondly, the technology base of the country is growing at a fast rate so rapidly that today many households have access to mobile phones and internet. The economy has moved along quite well so it’s an opportunity for investors to participate in before it’s too late,” the Ghana Commercial Bank Managing Director noted.