Leasafric : Assessment of the Leasing Sector in Ghana by Kalu Onyeamu Kalu

Kalu Onyeamu Kalu, Managing Director of Leasafric Ghana, shares his assessment of the leasing sector in the country.

“Leasafric is the only regulated leasing company in Ghana. In 2012, the leasing companies were asked to recapitalized their operation to the tune of 10 million Ghana cedis. After the exercise, Leasafric was the only company that was able to recapitalize, making it the only fully capitalized leasing company currently in Ghana. It is also the only leasing company that is being regulated by the Bank of Ghana. However, there are also other leasing companies that are not regulated. That makes it challenging for us because as a regulated leasing company, there are certain things we are not able to do. We must do things the way they should be done and adhere to corporate governance and certain standards, but the other companies that are not regulated can do things however they like. They might not be as big as us and might structure things differently. So, it has its own advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is creditability. When an investor comes into the country and needs a leasing company, they meet with the government agencies or the Bank of Ghana. But they need a leasing company that they can work with and we are sure they will call Leasafric. The competition becomes a bit tough for Leasafric. The competition is there, but you can say that we do not really have a competitor. We have a lot of competitors because there are a lot of people that are doing leasing. For operating leasing or fleet management, you do not need a bank license, but to do finance leasing, you need the Bank of Ghana. So, most people will not do finance lease, only things like car rentals, etc. When it comes to the car rental aspect, of course we have quite a lot of competitors, such as Avis, Europcar Rental, Novo, Atlas Rent a Car. There are quite a lot of other rental companies around. Because we are already a big player in the area of fleet management, it gives us leverage. Also, we have a parent company in Nigeria that is very big. Other products like personnel outsourcing, staff busing, and other areas we are just coming up in are quite new to us. There are already established players in those industries but we are also trying to establish ourselves in those sectors. Fleet management is where we have the strongest presence as far as Ghana is concerned. Currently, as a leasing company we have over 1,000 fleets across the country. We also have most of the top multinational companies working with us and we are managing their fleets. In terms of competitors, while we have them, we still command a large aspect of the market”, says Kalu Onyeamu Kalu.

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