Of the 23 universal banks in Ghana, the nine domestic banks held almost 40% of assets.
The 14 foreign banks operate as subsidiaries of pan-African and non-pan-African foreign banks.
According to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Technical Assistance Mission, Ghana’s financial system is predominantly bank-based.
As of end-2024, the banking sector assets accounted for over three-quarters of total financial sector assets, followed by pensions (16.0%), and securities and insurance (about 4.) each).
Within banking, the report said more than 90% of assets were held by universal banks, with the remainder in specialized deposit-taking institutions such as savings and loans companies and rural community banks.
The report added that the banking sector has been gradually recovering over the past year, but non-performing loans (NPLs) and sovereign exposures remain high.
“Following the 2022 Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP), banks incurred significant losses on domestic government bonds holdings, which weakened their capital positions. Over the past year, capital adequacy has improved, reaching about 18% of risk weighted assets (RWA) as of August 2025—close to pre-DDEP levels. This recovery in capital and profitability has been partly supported by increased holdings of high-yielding BoG bills”.
Despite some improvements, the report added that the private sector NPL ratio remains elevated at 20.8% and banks continue to be highly exposed to domestic sovereign.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com
