Domestic investors ready to anchor bank ownership – BoG

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) says domestic institutional investors, particularly pension funds, are prepared to play a central role in anchoring bank ownership.

Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, said growing pools of long-term domestic capital had created favourable conditions for stronger local participation in bank equity.

“Domestic long-term capital is growing rapidly,” Dr Asiama said, pointing to pension funds as a major driver of this shift within Ghana’s financial system.

He disclosed that pension fund assets had expanded significantly in recent years, strengthening the capacity of local investors to support bank ownership.

“Pension fund assets, for example, now exceed GH¢100 billion, making them one of the largest pools of investible capital in the economy,” the Governor stated.

Dr Asiama said evidence from already listed banks showed that domestic institutional investors were not only willing but capable of taking substantial equity positions when governance and regulatory frameworks were credible.

“Several of our listed banks already have pension funds holding between 15 and 35 percent of their equity, demonstrating that domestic institutional investors are willing and able to anchor bank ownership when the right frameworks are in place,” he said.

According to him, the Bank Listing Project was designed to deliberately connect long-term domestic savings to the banking system, rather than pursue listings as isolated market transactions.

“Listing banks, therefore, is not about transactions for their own sake. It is about transparency, market discipline, and deliberately connecting long-term domestic savings to the banking system in a way that supports sustainable growth,” Dr Asiama explained.

He noted that Ghana’s banking sector had diverse ownership structures, with some banks already listed, others predominantly foreign-owned, and a number state-linked.

As a result, the central bank was adopting a flexible and sequenced approach to bank listings.

“A credible listing framework must therefore be flexible and sequenced, recognising different ownership structures while maintaining high prudential and governance standards,” the Governor said.

Dr Asiama added that as banks become more market-facing, investor sentiment, equity prices and valuations would increasingly influence confidence in the financial system.

He said the newly inaugurated Steering and Technical Committees had been tasked to develop a practical and credible framework that would strengthen governance and mobilise domestic capital.