- Mahama Ayariga Courts Banks with Street-Branding Rights to Finance Greener Cities
Ghana’s government is seeking to persuade banks and other large companies to finance the greening and maintenance of urban streets in exchange for branding and possible co-naming rights, as constrained municipal budgets leave public spaces struggling for consistent investment.
Mahama Ayariga, Minister for Local Government, Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, presented the proposal to chief executives of banks and financial institutions during a meeting convened by the Bank of Ghana.
The plan would expand the existing but fragmented practice under which companies beautify roundabouts and small public spaces into a structured nationwide programme covering defined stretches of roads.
“I have driven around the city and I see banks adopt certain spaces in the city, redesigning them, decorating them nicely, beautifying them and branding it in the image of that bank,” Mr Ayariga told the banking executives.
Under the proposed arrangement, banks, insurers, manufacturers, construction companies and logistics groups would assume continuing responsibility for selected roads, financing landscaping, trees, grass, flowers and other improvements.
The expenditure could be incorporated into companies’ annual advertising or corporate social responsibility budgets, creating a more predictable source of funding for urban maintenance.
“Can we just make it a daily routine that we assign streets to banks?” Mr Ayariga asked. “And not just banks. The idea is to assign them to corporate Ghana, all companies that can afford.”
Companies could adopt different lengths of roads based on their financial capacity and geographic operations. A large institution could, for example, be assigned 10 kilometres in Greater Accra, two kilometres in the Ashanti Region and shorter stretches in other regional capitals where it conducts business.
In return, participating companies would receive visibility along the roads they maintain, effectively converting part of their marketing expenditure into long-term investment in public infrastructure.
Mr Ayariga suggested that the incentives could include attaching corporate identities to existing road names while retaining their historical designations.
“If Obasanjo Highway and Obasanjo and his family is not helping me to maintain the street, and Access Bank is willing to maintain the street, I will shift Obasanjo’s name small and then it will be Access Bank Obasanjo Highway,” he said.
The minister’s reference to Access Bank was illustrative and did not indicate that the bank had agreed to adopt the road.
However, the example revealed the commercial logic behind the proposal. Major urban roads carry thousands of commuters each day and could provide participating companies with sustained brand exposure that conventional advertising campaigns may struggle to replicate.
For the government, the attraction lies in using that commercial value to mobilise private financing for maintenance that would otherwise depend on irregular municipal allocations.
The arrangement could also redirect existing corporate social responsibility spending towards projects with visible and measurable public benefits.
Yet assigning naming or branding rights over public roads would require carefully defined rules. The government would need to determine how roads are allocated, how sponsors are selected, the duration of naming rights and the minimum standards companies must meet.
It would also need to protect the historical identity of public spaces and prevent corporate branding from overwhelming road signs or confusing navigation and emergency services.
The proposal reflects a wider attempt to find alternative financing for Ghana’s rapidly expanding cities.
Urban authorities face growing demands for roads, drainage, street lighting, pedestrian walkways, waste management and public greenery, but their revenue bases remain weak.
Property-rate collection is inconsistent, while central government transfers are often insufficient to finance both new infrastructure and routine maintenance.
The result is that public assets frequently deteriorate after construction because budgets prioritise new projects over recurring upkeep.
A corporate street-adoption programme could partly address that maintenance gap. But its sustainability would depend on converting voluntary gestures into enforceable long-term commitments.
Companies would need clear maintenance obligations, performance indicators and reporting requirements. Public authorities, in turn, would have to ensure that participating institutions receive the visibility promised under their agreements.
Transparent procurement and allocation would also be essential to prevent the most commercially attractive roads from being distributed through political discretion.
Mr Ayariga said the initiative could create employment by expanding landscaping and maintenance work through the Department of Parks and Gardens and private subcontractors.
“You create jobs for young people. You expand the Parks and Gardens Department, and then subcontractors that you will engage,” he said.
Beyond aesthetics, greener and better-maintained streets could improve pedestrian safety, strengthen the appeal of commercial districts and support tourism, investment and property values.
Trees and landscaped spaces could also provide environmental benefits by reducing heat, controlling dust and improving stormwater absorption in densely developed urban areas.
The programme is expected to form part of a wider urban-development agenda covering roads, drainage, walkways, street lighting and greenery. The government is also considering reforms to property rates and betterment charges to finance inner-city infrastructure.
Mr Ayariga drew comparisons with international cities whose well-maintained public spaces have become part of their economic identity and attractiveness.
“What you see when you travel to Singapore, what you see when you travel to all the countries that we like to send our families on vacation, simply because they have created that environment,” he said.
Bank of Ghana Governor Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama welcomed further discussions and encouraged the banking industry to consider how the proposal could benefit both companies and the public.
“Let’s see how we can make it a win-win so that we beautify our environment,” Dr Asiama said. “We don’t have to be relying on central government budget for everything.”
Mr Ayariga said the government would continue discussions with the Ghana Association of Banks to develop an implementation roadmap.
The proposal offers a potentially useful bridge between corporate advertising and urban finance. But its success will depend on whether the government can establish transparent contracts, measurable standards and credible enforcement.
Without those safeguards, street adoption could become another collection of short-term beautification exercises that deteriorate after the initial publicity.
With them, Ghana could develop an unusual public-private model in which corporate visibility pays for cleaner, greener and more economically attractive cities.
