Ghana: BoG Intensifies Efforts At Promoting Credit Delivery Transparency

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has stepped up efforts at helping to deepen public understanding of the Borrowers and Lenders Act 2008 (Act 773) to promote transparency in the credit delivery system.

As part of this, an outreach programme was on Wednesday held in Kumasi for representatives of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), micro-finance operators, heads of department and the business community.

The goal was to aid them to become adequately informed about the functions and operations of the Collateral Registry, provided for under the law.

The programme was organized by the Registry with support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).

Mr Akuoko Ankrah, acting Ashanti Regional Manager of the BOG, said the Act was meant to help address challenges faced by borrowers and lenders in their credit transactions.

These include the lack of transparency in the credit market, deficiencies in judicial enforcement of foreclosure processes, high interest rates and inadequate avenues to search on security interest.

The passage of the law, he said, had ushered in a new credit regime, dubbed the “Secured Transaction Regime”.

Mr Ankrah said since the establishment of the Registry, the BOG had been working tirelessly to redesign the Registry’s systems, processes and procedures to conform to international best practices.

He said consultative meetings had been held with stakeholders to solicit views to further enrich the proposed amendments to the law, submitted to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

Added to that, was a “secured transaction and collateral registries peer to peer learning event organized under the auspices of IFC/SECO for high level delegations from 14 African countries to share ideas, opinions, best practices and expertise on the legal and institutional framework governing the creation, registration and enforcement of security against movable assets in Africa.

Mr. Edwin Osafoh and Edward Nyarko, both Operation Officers at the Registry, urged entrepreneurs to make sure that they registered their businesses with the BOG’s collateral registry. The entity would have nothing doing with those who are not registered with it.