2024 Legal and
Regulatory Outlook
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​In the 2024 report, we anticipated significant shifts in the regulatory and financial landscapes, driven by improving macroeconomic conditions, enhanced policy initiatives, and evolving global and domestic challenges. Now, with the benefit of hindsight and data from 2024, we assess our expectations against the key developments in the following areas:
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Securities & Investment
Capital markets – we anticipated continuous growth for the equity capital market to be fuelled primarily by rights issues and additional listing of shares by banks seeking to raise funding to meet prudential requirements. The Ghana Stock Exchange (the GSE) was Africa’s best performing market in 2024. It recorded an all-share index growth of 56.17%, its strongest performance in 10 years. The market capitalisation grew by 50.7% (a significant increase to the 14.6% in 2023). The value of transactions grew from GHS 818 million in 2023 to GHS 2.2 billion in 2024. The shares of MTN Ghana were the most traded and valuable in 2024 followed by financial services companies like CalBank Plc, Ecobank Ghana Plc, GCB Bank Plc and Enterprise Group Plc.
We also expected the corporate bonds market to pick up in 2024. The volume of trade increased from GHS 1.7 billion in 2023 to GHS 2.3 billion. The value of trade increased from GHS 1.5 billion in 2023 to GHS 2 billion. These were as a result of issuances by Kasapreko Plc, Bayport Savings and Loans Plc, and Letshego Savings and Loans Plc.
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Regarding regulatory interventions, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) issued guidelines to regulate the issuance of and investments in green bonds (see our brief on this here). The GSE also introduced a commercial paper market to facilitate the issuance, admission and trading of commercial paper as well as the first regulated over-the-counter (OTC) market in Ghana we provide brief insights on the rules for these markets here and here.
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Alternative investments – we expected some changes to the regulatory framework for private funds. The SEC commenced a broader overhaul of the legal framework for the securities market and regulated funds. This is still work in progress.
Additionally, we anticipated an increase in the licensing of the new private funds to boost M&A activity and increased debt financing sources. The SEC licensed 2 new private funds, bring the total number of licensed private funds to 9 at the end of 2024. According to the SEC, the funds under management of the private funds increased marginally from GHS 758 million in 2023 to GHS 776 million.
The SEC licensed 2 crowdfunding platforms and 1 crowdfunding intermediary. It also issued guidelines on crowdfunding as anticipated. The guidelines regulate equity and debt (peer-to-peer) crowdfunding models which involve fund investments and provide for the licensing and operation of crowdfunding, licensing of crowdfunding intermediaries, issuer eligibility requirements, and capital raising requirements.
The Bank of Ghana introduced the Ghana Gold Coin (the GGC), allowing potential investors to purchase 3 available sizes of pure gold coins as a hedge against local currency fluctuations and other periods of economic turbulence. The GGC is traded locally through commercial banks, priced based on the London Bullion Marketing Association (LBMA) Auction PM Price on the prevailing GHS-USD exchange rate, and readily redeemable through the commercial banks and the Bank of Ghana.
Banking and Finance​
We expected increased capital raising efforts in the banking sector, as the banks got ready to implement their regulatory capital restoration plans. The expectation was borne out by a number rights issue and private placement transactions in the banking sector. Listed banks such as CalBank Plc and Agricultural Development Bank Plc undertook rights issue and additional listing of shares on the GSE while some private banks such as Consolidated Bank Ghana Limited were also recapitalised by their shareholders.
We also anticipated that government would increase its stake within the banking industry. For the purposes of the recapitalisation of the banks and under the Ghana Financial Stability Fund, government increased its stake in some of the banks. For instance, government’s interest in CalBank Plc (held by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust) increased from 33% to 56%. Government’s direct holding in Agricultural Development Bank Plc increased from 21.5% to 83.5%. While this hugely propped up the recapitalisation drive and may boost government revenue through dividend payouts, it may also be quite disheartening for those who advocate against government shareholding in the financial services sector and its potential for weak regulatory supervision.
Finally, we expected banks to increase their extension of credit to the private sector, following the slight uplift in the macroeconomic indicators. The banking sector in 2024 demonstrated significant recovery and growth, with the following key financial soundness indicators showing marked improvement:
Although there was about 25% increase in the aggregate value of loans advanced by the banks, there is still room for improvement. The World Bank estimates that there is a financing gap of about USD 6.1 billion for MSMEs in Ghana (as at 2017). This gap may have increased by now and any meaningful gap closing efforts would require the banks to disburse more. However, non-performing loans (NPLs) remain a systemic issue and a hindrance to the extension of credit to the private sector (including MSMEs). According to the Bank of Ghana, the private sector accounted for over 96% of the NPLs (as at October 2024). As a result of this and other relevant issues, the banks are more inclined to invest in government securities.
The banking sector’s performance in 2024 reflects a recovery trajectory, but challenges persist.
The payments industry continued to dominate as the fastest growing sector in financial services. The aggregate value of mobile money payments stood at GHS 335 billion by end of 2024, continuing its dominance over all other forms of payment in Ghana. This represented 68% growth over the 2023 aggregate value of GHS 199 billion. The number of registered mobile money accounts increased by about 7 million from 66 million to 73 million.
Cheques and internet banking were the next most valuable forms of payment. The aggregate value of cheque and internet banking payments stood at GHS 34 billion and GHS 38 billion, respectively.
The Bank of Ghana re-affirmed its commitment towards the issue of the e-cedi (Ghana’s central bank digital currency) by 2026. The completion of the 12-week eCedi Hackathon produced innovative solutions covering areas such as agriculture, government payments, business transactions and taxation. We are expectant to see the next steps in the issue of the e-cedi and its prospective impact on financial inclusion and digitalisation
Payments
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The insurance sector was stable within the year of review, recovering from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the DDEP. Selected insurers obtained capitalisation or liquidity funds under the Ghana Financial Stability Fund.
The National Insurance Commission (NIC), as part of its efforts to sustain fairness and efficiency in the insurance industry, directed insurers against engaging in premium undercutting offering clients unrealistically low premiums for the sake of competitive advantage. The NIC also issued a directive on the underwriting of insurance bonds which requires insurers to use approved standardized wordings for all the types of bonds and comply with the minimum bond rates.
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We indicated in the 2024 report that the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) would continue its aggressive domestic revenue mobilisation drive which would likely result in more legislative and administrative steps to increase existing tax rates, introduce or operationalise taxes, and/or encourage tax compliance. We expected the existing tax operationalising to include a practice note for the implementation of the concept of minimum chargeable income under section 2A of the Income Tax Act. We also indicated that the tax compliance measures would include operationalising the GRA’s special voluntary disclosure programme (SVDP) in 2024.
The government did not introduce any new taxes or increase tax rates. However, the GRA (for the purposes of operationalising existing taxes) issued guidelines on double tax relief in March 2024, guidelines on VAT supply by an estate developer and supplier of immovable property for rental purposes in March 2024, and guidelines on certified invoicing system (e-VAT) in June 2024. The GRA also issued a practice note in May 2024 for the implementation of the minimum chargeable income concept, which became fully operational in 2024. The practice note aims to guide matters such as the scope of application of the concept and the determination of the minimum chargeable income for businesses.
Regarding encouraging tax compliance, the GRA fully operationalised the SVDP. This initiative encourages taxpayers to declare undisclosed offshore accounts, assets, and income in exchange for relief from penalties.
The GRA’s heightened revenue mobilisation in 2024 paid off. The GRA has reported that it raked in GHS 154 billion in tax revenue, surpassing its target by GHS 7.5 billion (a 35% increase over the 2023 tax revenue). This affirmed the effectiveness of the tax revenue mobilisation measures.
The government announced plans to reintroduce the integrated property tax system, a major policy intervention aimed at addressing historical underperformance in property tax collections. By consolidating property data from local assemblies, the Lands Commission, and the Electricity Company of Ghana, the system aims to create a unified property database for accurate assessment and improved compliance.
The government also announced plans to reintroduce road tolls in 2025. Unlike previous manual collection methods, the new system will rely on digital payment platforms to reduce revenue leakages and increase collection efficiency.
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​We anticipated that subsidiary legislation for the Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring Act, 2020 (Act 1015) (CIRA) would be finalised and enacted in 2024 to aid the deployment of the new legal tools introduced under the CIRA to rescue businesses and liquidate insolvent businesses. This did not happen in 2024. We understand that the subsidiary legislation to be issued under CIRA was placed before the last Parliament. It is expected to come into force in 2025.
We also expected the enactment of the Chartered Institute of Restructuring and Insolvency Practitioners Bill (which was undergoing parliamentary review at that time) in 2024. The law was passed in July 2024. It established the Chartered Institute of Restructuring and Insolvency Practitioners, Ghana () which will serve as the professional body for, among others, promoting the study of insolvency, training and certification of insolvency practitioners. The establishment of CIRIP Ghana marks a significant transition from the role of the Ghana Association of Restructuring and Insolvency Advisors (GARIA), which assisted the Office of the Registrar of Companies on the training and licensing of insolvency practitioners. CIRIP Ghana is expected to play a vital role in fostering a rescue culture for businesses, enhancing public confidence in the insolvency process and maintaining the integrity and professionalism of insolvency practice in Ghana.
Insurance
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Tax
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Insolvency, Restructuring and Administration​
