GHANA Trends and Developments Contributed by: NanaAma Botchway, Achiaa Akobour Debrah and Alexander Calloway, N. Dowuona & Company
Upstream oil and gas: reversing the decline through strategic farm-ins After several years of declining production and invest - ment, Ghana’s upstream oil and gas sector is showing renewed momentum. The resolution of long-running tax and commercial disputes, combined with strong oil prices and government urgency to boost near-term output, has materially improved the investment cli - mate. In June 2025, Tullow Oil and Kosmos Energy, together with PetroSA, GNPC, and GNPC Explorco, signed a memorandum of understanding to extend petroleum licences for the Jubilee and TEN fields until 2040. Par - liamentary ratification was secured in February 2026. The partners committed up to USD2 billion for new drilling at Jubilee and to deliver 130 million stand - ard cubic feet of gas per day from Jubilee and TEN. Separately, a USD1.5 billion memorandum of intent was signed between the government, ENI, Vitol, and GNPC to enhance production capacity at the Sankofa Gye Nyame fields. The government is also advancing plans to bring the Pecan field into production and is engaging inter - national partners. On the exploration front, ENI has declared commerciality at the Eban-Akoma discover - ies in the Tano Basin, estimated to hold between 500 and 700 million barrels of oil equivalent. These developments are already shaping farm-in and farm-out discussions as international operators re- enter Ghana or restructure their acreage positions. Financial services: consolidation and digital transformation Financial services M&A in Ghana continues to reflect the after-effects of two structural shocks: the 2017 to 2019 banking sector clean-up and the domestic debt exchange programme, which strained the bal - ance sheets of banks and institutional investors alike. Consolidation pressures therefore remain acute. The Bank of Ghana’s minimum capital requirement of GHS400 million for commercial banks, alongside recapitalisation deadlines extended to 2026, has intensified this pressure. Several institutions remain below prudential capital thresholds. CalBank PLC’s
GHS1.16 billion recapitalisation through a rights issue and private placement illustrates the trend. First Atlan - tic Bank PLC’s listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange provided both fresh capital and a successful private equity exit, offering a template for future transactions. The microfinance sector also presents a clear con - solidation pipeline. New Bank of Ghana guidelines introduce revised capital requirements and owner - ship restrictions, with regulators actively encouraging institutions unable to comply independently to pursue mergers or asset transfers. In fintech, Ghana’s digital payments ecosystem con - tinues to grow rapidly. By mid-2025, registered mobile money accounts exceeded 76 million, with over 24 million active monthly users. Transaction values rose 44% year-on-year to GHS323 billion in early 2025. The enactment of the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 (Act 1154) further integrates digital assets into the regulated financial system, creating new opportu - nities for financial transactions and investment. Against this backdrop, banks and insurers are increas - ingly acquiring or partnering with payments, lending, and insurtech platforms to enhance digital capabilities. Many of these transactions begin as minority invest - ments, supported by detailed commercial arrange - ments governing data access, intellectual property, and change-of-control rights, rather than immediate full acquisitions. Regulatory scrutiny is intensifying across these trans - actions, particularly in relation to the fitness and pro - priety of controllers and management, governance arrangements, capital adequacy, liquidity, and AML and CFT systems. This is extending approval time - lines and increasing the emphasis on post-acquisition integration planning. The insurance sector also generated a notable trans - action. EmPLE Group’s acquisition of 100% of Met - ropolitan Ghana from Momentum Group, spanning life, health, and pensions businesses, highlights both the ongoing portfolio rationalisation by South Afri - can groups and the appetite of local and pan-African acquirers to fill the resulting gap.
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