- Ghana’s SOEs Swing To GH¢19.80bn Profit as Revenue Climbs To GH¢176.43bn
Ghana’s state-owned enterprise sector returned to profitability in 2025 after four consecutive years of consolidated losses, posting a net profit after tax of GH¢19.80 billion as revenues surged and foreign-exchange conditions improved, according to the latest State Ownership Report by the State Interests and Governance Authority.
The 2025 report, the tenth edition of Ghana’s flagship assessment of Specified Entities and the fifth produced by SIGA since its establishment in 2019, covers 162 of the 175 approved entities. These comprise 53 State-Owned Enterprises, 36 Joint Venture Companies and 73 Other State Entities.
Total SOE revenue climbed 28.12% to GH¢176.43 billion from GH¢137.64 billion in 2024, driven by sharp growth in agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure.
Agriculture recorded revenue growth of 203.71%, manufacturing expanded 114.74%, while infrastructure rose 92.24%.
The improvement flowed through to earnings, with profit before interest and tax increasing to GH¢25.49 billion.
The turnaround marks a significant reversal from recent years. The sector recorded a loss of GH¢502.00 million in 2023 before partially recovering to a profit before interest and tax of GH¢5.80 billion in 2024.
Most significantly, consolidated net profit after tax reached GH¢19.80 billion in 2025 compared with a net loss after tax of GH¢2.25 billion the previous year.
SIGA described the performance as the culmination of a four-year recovery in the state-owned sector.
Ten SOEs, including Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Bui Power Authority, Ghana National Gas Company, BOST Energies Company, Minerals Income Investment Fund and TDC Company Limited, remained profitable throughout the five-year period reviewed.
A stronger cedi also materially improved sector finances.
SOEs reported net foreign-exchange earnings of GH¢11.72 billion in 2025, reversing a foreign-exchange loss of GH¢12.01 billion in the previous year, while finance costs fell 42.49%.
The balance-sheet picture, however, remained mixed. Total SOE assets declined 5.86% to GH¢407.84 billion, while liabilities fell 4.31% to GH¢281.99 billion.
The Electricity Company of Ghana alone accounted for GH¢82.31 billion of total liabilities, highlighting the continued concentration of fiscal and operational risk in a small number of large state entities.
SIGA also warned that the improvement in aggregate profitability masks persistent weaknesses.
Five SOEs — ECG, Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company Limited, GNPA Limited, Graphic Communications Group Company and Ghana Digital Centre — recorded losses in every year from 2021 to 2025.
Six entities, including AirtelTigo Ghana Limited, GIHOC Distilleries and Tema Oil Refinery, carried negative equity throughout the same period.
Dividend payments from SOEs to government also weakened sharply.
Only Ghana Reinsurance Company Limited and TDC Company Limited paid dividends to the state in 2025, contributing a combined GH¢16.00 million, down 29.36% from 2024.
The relatively low dividend contribution raises questions about how effectively Ghana is converting its ownership of profitable enterprises into direct fiscal returns.
Joint Venture Companies produced a stronger dividend outcome. Net profit excluding minority interests rose 36.55% to GH¢3.14 billion, while total JVC assets increased 25.99% to GH¢96.69 billion.
Minority-interest JVCs were particularly profitable, with net earnings increasing to GH¢61.32 billion from GH¢21.06 billion in 2024.
These entities provided GH¢1.19 billion in dividends, equivalent to 97.12% of all dividends received across the state portfolio.
The contrast suggests that government’s minority stakes in some commercially run businesses may currently be generating stronger cash returns than several wholly owned state enterprises.
Elsewhere in the portfolio, Other State Entities came under growing financial pressure.
Their combined deficit widened sharply to GH¢10.48 billion, from GH¢2.18 billion in 2024.
Assets increased 60.15% to GH¢310.62 billion, but liabilities rose to GH¢323.17 billion, while the accumulated fund moved from a positive GH¢15.47 billion to a negative GH¢41.14 billion.
SIGA attributed much of that deterioration to the Bank of Ghana’s negative equity position of GH¢93.00 billion.
The report said the improved performance of state entities took place against a more supportive macroeconomic backdrop.
Real GDP growth reached 6.00% in 2025, while the policy rate fell from 27.00% to 18.00%, the Ghana Reference Rate declined from 29.31% to 15.90%, and average lending rates dropped from 30.25% to 20.40% by December.
Government debt rose nominally to GH¢640.99 billion, but declined as a share of GDP to 45.28%, helped by currency appreciation, lower borrowing costs and a stronger primary balance.
Despite the improvement, the report flagged continuing fiscal exposures from GH¢3.03 billion in outstanding loan guarantees, GH¢14.73 billion in on-lent loans and US$3.70 million in contingent liabilities that crystallised from public-private partnership arrangements.
SIGA Director-General Prof Michael Kpessa-Whyte said the report provides a basis for assessing how the country’s state entities are contributing to the government’s wider economic reset.
“This edition is significant because it documents the performance of Specified Entities for the first year of President Mahama’s second administration,” he said.
SIGA said the next challenge is to move beyond recovery and build a state-owned sector capable of delivering sustainable value.
“The gains of FY2025 must not become a temporary rebound,” the report concluded.
“They must become the foundation for a more efficient, competitive, inclusive and sustainable State-owned sector that creates value for the Ghanaian taxpayer and contributes meaningfully to national development.”
