As part of a broader effort to reform Ghana’s microfinance sector and strengthen depositor protection, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has announced plans to restructure the ARB Apex Bank, positioning it as a central policy and capacity-building institution across the entire microfinance ecosystem.
The move is a key pillar of ongoing reforms in the microfinance and specialised deposit-taking institutions (SDIs) sector, aimed at restoring discipline, tightening supervision, and rebuilding confidence in a segment of the financial system that plays a critical role in financial inclusion and local economic activity.
Speaking at the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Ghana Governor’s Day and Dinner event on Saturday, 20th December, BoG Governor Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama said the restructuring will significantly expand the mandate of the ARB Apex Bank beyond its traditional focus on rural and community banks.
Under the new framework, the Apex Bank will be transformed into a strategic policy instrument for the entire microfinance sector, serving as a central intermediary for policy transmission, institutional support, and sector-wide capacity building.
“Our aim is to stabilize the segment, improve standards, and rebuild confidence in institutions that are serving the most vulnerable parts of the economy. The ARB Apex Bank will be restructured into a strategic policy instrument for the entire microfinance sector, thereby extending its reach beyond rural and community banks to serve as a central intermediary for policy transmission, institutional support, and sector-wide capacity building.,” Dr. Asiama noted.
Historically, the ARB Apex Bank has functioned as a “mini-central bank” for Ghana’s Rural and Community Banks (RCBs), providing critical services such as liquidity management, technical support, payment services, and oversight coordination. This role has been instrumental in deepening financial inclusion in rural and underserved communities.
The planned restructuring builds on this foundation, extending the Apex Bank’s reach to support a much broader range of microfinance institutions, as the central bank seeks to close supervisory gaps that have previously allowed weaknesses to persist across the sector.
Also the reforms are anchored on a new institutional architecture intended to enhance resilience, rebuild public trust, and expand access to financial services across all segments of society.
Under the proposed framework, the microfinance ecosystem will be reorganised into four distinct but complementary institutional categories, each operating under clearly defined mandates and prudential standards:
• Microfinance Banks, subject to enhanced capital and risk-management requirements;
• Community Banks, focused on serving local economies with clearer governance and operational mandates;
• Credit Unions, governed under strengthened cooperative and prudential frameworks; and
• Last Mile Providers, designed to extend basic financial services to underserved and hard-to-reach communities under tailored supervisory arrangements.
The central bank believes this clearer segmentation will reduce regulatory overlap, improve accountability, and ensure that institutions are supervised in line with the risks they pose.
Dr. Asiama emphasised that the reforms recognise the microfinance sector’s outsized importance to small businesses, informal traders, farmers, and low-income households, many of whom rely on these institutions as their primary link to the formal financial system.
By strengthening oversight, improving institutional capacity, and reinforcing governance, the Bank of Ghana says it aims to protect depositors and prevent the erosion of public confidence that has followed past sector failures.