- Ghana Prepares 10 State-Owned Enterprises for Stock-Market Listings
Ghana is preparing 10 state-owned enterprises for listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange in an attempt to impose greater financial discipline, attract private capital and reduce the political interference that has long weakened the performance of public companies.
President John Dramani Mahama said the proposed listings would transform the selected entities into public companies, subjecting their management and financial performance to the disclosure, governance and shareholder-accountability requirements of the capital market.
“They’ll become public companies, one, because we want to improve their governance, and two, because we want to reduce political interference in those state-owned enterprises,” the President said during an investment event in New York.
The government has not yet publicly identified the 10 companies, disclosed the proportion of their shares that will be offered or provided a timetable for the listings.
Those details will determine whether the initiative becomes a significant restructuring of Ghana’s public-enterprise sector or merely a limited sale of minority stakes that leaves existing governance arrangements largely intact.
The programme nevertheless represents one of the government’s most consequential attempts to use the capital market as an instrument of public-sector reform.
Ghana’s state-owned enterprises control strategically important assets and operate across energy, transport, infrastructure, finance and other essential sectors. Their performance has significant consequences for the national budget because losses, unpaid obligations and government guarantees can migrate from corporate balance sheets to the public debt.
Listing some of these enterprises could create an additional layer of scrutiny beyond that provided by ministries, boards and the State Interests and Governance Authority.
Public companies must publish financial statements, disclose material developments and answer to shareholders whose interests may differ from those of the government. Market prices can also provide a continuous, if imperfect, measure of investor confidence in management and strategy.
The President said the reform was necessary because of weak performance incentives within parts of the public sector.
“There’s this notion of state enterprises where people just go and they’re guaranteed a monthly salary whether they perform well or not,” he said.
“Even when they’re making losses, they’re asking for salary increments and asking for bonuses when you’ve made a loss.”
The criticism identifies a problem that has persisted across successive administrations: the separation between remuneration and commercial performance.
Where boards and chief executives are appointed principally through political processes, management may face limited pressure to protect capital, improve productivity or make unpopular operational decisions. Losses can be passed to the state, while employees and executives continue to expect salary adjustments and bonuses.
A stock-market listing could make such practices more visible. It would not, however, automatically eliminate them.
The strongest argument for listing state enterprises is not simply that the government can raise money by selling shares. It is that the process could force companies to improve their internal controls, financial reporting and corporate governance before they are presented to investors.
An initial public offering requires a company to produce a prospectus, disclose its risks and demonstrate that its accounts and governance structures meet regulatory standards. The preparatory process can therefore expose liabilities and operational weaknesses that are less visible while an enterprise remains wholly owned by the state.
Once listed, the companies would come under the oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ghana Stock Exchange, while minority shareholders could demand timely information and question decisions that destroy corporate value.
But the effectiveness of that discipline will depend on the structure of the listings.
If the government retains an overwhelming controlling interest, it could still dominate the appointment of directors and senior executives. Minority investors might have access to more information without acquiring sufficient influence to prevent politically motivated decisions.
The credibility of the initiative will therefore depend on whether boards are selected through transparent, competency-based processes and whether minority-shareholder protections are enforced.
The government must also determine whether the companies will be allowed to operate commercially when political considerations conflict with profitability.
Some public enterprises carry social or developmental obligations that private companies would not ordinarily accept. They may be required to maintain uneconomic services, hold prices below cost or employ more people than operationally necessary.
If those obligations continue after listing, they should be explicitly identified and transparently funded. Otherwise, minority investors may be asked to bear the cost of government policy without adequate compensation.
President Mahama said Ghana’s electoral cycle frequently results in the removal of chief executives and the dissolution of boards whenever political power changes hands.
Listing the companies, he argued, would make such interference more difficult.
The proposition will be tested at the first change of administration after the listings. If a new government can still remove directors and executives without reference to performance or established governance procedures, public ownership of shares will have altered the companies’ legal status without changing their political vulnerability.
A listing can impose disclosure requirements, but it cannot by itself prevent a controlling shareholder from exercising its power. Durable reform will require clear appointment criteria, fixed terms where appropriate and credible limits on ministerial intervention in daily operations.
It will also require a distinction between the state’s role as policymaker and its role as shareholder.
Government ministries may want a company to pursue social or political objectives, while investors expect management to protect the enterprise’s commercial value. Resolving that tension is essential if the planned listings are to attract more than speculative interest.
The President said state-owned enterprises had recently recorded an improvement in their collective performance.
He cited a report presented at a SIGA programme showing that the enterprises collectively generated net profit of almost GH¢19bn after years of losses.
That improvement could strengthen the government’s case for listing. Profitable companies are more likely to attract investors and achieve valuations that provide meaningful proceeds to the state.
But aggregate profitability can conceal wide differences among individual enterprises. Strong earnings from a small number of companies may offset persistent losses elsewhere, while accounting profits do not necessarily translate into cash available for investment or dividends.
Investors will consequently examine each enterprise separately. They will want to know the quality of its assets, the sustainability of its revenue, the extent of its debt and whether its profits depend on government guarantees, subsidies or exclusive market privileges.
The decision to list should therefore be based on commercial readiness rather than the desire to meet a political target of 10 companies.
Enterprises with unresolved liabilities, weak accounts or unclear regulatory arrangements may require restructuring before they can credibly approach the market.
President Mahama said the programme would allow Ghanaians to acquire shares and benefit from the performance of public companies.
“It’s a good place to invest. Some of them are paying quite good profits,” he said of the Ghana Stock Exchange.
Broadening public ownership could deepen Ghana’s capital market, expand the range of available securities and give pension funds, institutional investors and households access to companies that have historically remained entirely under state control.
The initiative could also provide the government with an alternative to borrowing. Rather than assuming additional debt, the state could raise capital by selling part of its equity while retaining a strategic interest.
That benefit comes with an important responsibility: the shares must be priced transparently and allocated through a process that commands public confidence.
An undervalued offering could transfer public wealth to a small group of investors, while an overpriced flotation could expose citizens to losses and damage trust in future listings.
The government will also need to clarify how the proceeds will be used. Applying the money to productive investment or the reduction of liabilities would have a different long-term effect from using it to finance recurrent expenditure.
The President linked the planned listings to a broader effort to attract investment into Ghana. He said foreign direct investment increased from US$640mn in 2024 to US$2.6bn in 2025 and argued that electricity coverage of more than 90 per cent had strengthened the country’s appeal.
“It’s obvious that there’s something good happening in Ghana,” he said.
The SOE listings could reinforce that message, but the market will judge the programme by execution rather than announcement.
The decisive questions are now which companies have been selected, how much ownership the state will relinquish, how directors will be appointed and whether investors will be protected when commercial objectives conflict with political demands.
If those questions are answered credibly, the listings could deepen Ghana’s capital market and impose greater discipline on some of its most important public assets.
If they are not, the companies may acquire stock-market tickers without escaping the political practices the reform is intended to curb.
