- Sam George Challenges Banks to Rethink Collateral as Ghana Seeks Digital-Economy Scale-Ups
Ghana’s ambition to build a globally competitive digital economy will remain constrained unless the country changes how technology businesses are financed, Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George has warned.
Speaking at a Development Bank Ghana ICT Roundtable Discussion in Accra, he argued that digital transformation should no longer be treated merely as internet access or the computerisation of public services, but as critical economic infrastructure comparable to roads and electricity.
“We do not see digitalization as computerizing government paperwork or extending internet access. We see digital technology the way we see roads and electricity: as infrastructure,” he said.
The minister placed financing at the centre of that transformation, saying Ghana’s technology ecosystem is constrained less by a lack of ideas than by financial instruments that do not reflect the economics of digital businesses.
Telecommunications networks, data centres, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, fintech and software companies often require large amounts of upfront or patient capital while holding fewer conventional physical assets than manufacturers or agricultural businesses.
“If Ghana wants a 21st century digital economy, we need 21st century financing to match it,” Mr George said.
That mismatch is particularly visible in traditional credit assessment, where banks often rely on land, buildings, machinery and predictable cash flows as collateral. Technology companies, by contrast, may derive much of their value from intellectual property, software, data, networks, specialist employees and the ability to scale rapidly across markets.
A business can therefore have thousands of users and strong commercial potential while still failing a conventional collateral test.
Mr George said the real test is whether promising Ghanaian entrepreneurs can move from idea to startup, from startup to scale-up and ultimately into internationally competitive firms.
“For too many of them, too many of you sitting in this room, the honest answer is no,” he said, arguing that the issue was not always the absence of money but “the way the financing exists”.
The implication is that Ghana’s technology-finance problem is structural rather than simply a matter of increasing the volume of available credit.
Different segments of the digital economy also need different forms of capital. Telecom operators require long-tenor financing for network expansion, fibre companies must fund infrastructure before revenues mature, data centres and cloud businesses need patient capital, and software or fintech companies may require repeated rounds of equity or growth financing as they scale.
“Startups need financing that matches their various stages, because startups are in different stages, not a one-size-fits-all product built for a different economy,” Mr George said.
But the minister directed part of his criticism at the technology industry itself. He said technical brilliance is not enough if founders lack the governance, accounting, cash-flow management and organisational discipline required to attract institutional capital.
“You are fantastic tech geniuses, but horrible business people,” he told participants, arguing that financial institutions should become more active partners in helping founders build investible businesses rather than merely providing funds.
His wider argument is that growth capital must be treated as business-building money rather than personal reward. Using Kasapreko’s planned stock-market listing as an example, Mr George said investors may accept delayed dividends when capital is being reinvested to expand an enterprise, and technology founders must apply the same logic when they receive substantial funding.
“If you got the five million-dollar gig, that whole five million dollars is not yours to spend and buy a house in Liverpool,” he said. “It is for you to reinvest.”
Financing reform, however, will not work without regulatory certainty. Mr George said regulation should complement rather than obstruct innovation, arguing that investors need predictable rules before committing patient capital for several years.
“Capital will follow confidence, and confidence needs certainty,” he said, as the Communications Ministry undertakes a review of 14 pieces of legislation spanning data governance, cybersecurity, telecoms, startups, digital-economy financing, domain registration and postal and logistics services.
One important part of that agenda is a clear legal definition of what constitutes a startup. Mr George cautioned that not every new business idea should automatically qualify for incentives, saying Ghana needs rules that distinguish genuine startups from businesses that do not meet the required criteria.
“Not every dreamer is a startup, or not every dreamer is an innovator, and not every innovator is a startup,” he said, pointing to Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Rwanda as countries with frameworks that provide greater clarity for investors and regulators.
The minister also warned that Ghana’s digital transformation must not become geographically concentrated in Accra and Kumasi.
He cited innovators in Tamale and Asankragwa and said the digital economy must create opportunities for farmers, traders, students, entrepreneurs and small businesses across the country. “We must not trade an old divide for a new one,” he said, warning that artificial intelligence should not become another force widening inequality.
That means financial inclusion in the digital economy will require more than connectivity. Access to affordable devices, digital skills, capital and investment opportunities will need to improve alongside broadband infrastructure, particularly for women, persons with disabilities, young people and rural communities.
The risk is that Ghana could successfully build advanced digital infrastructure while leaving large groups unable to participate economically in the opportunities that infrastructure creates.
Mr George challenged the roundtable to deliver three concrete outcomes: a detailed assessment of financing gaps across the ICT value chain, a pipeline of bankable digital-economy projects and a permanent mechanism linking government, Development Bank Ghana and financial institutions.
He also argued for concentrating resources behind one or two potentially transformative Ghanaian technology businesses rather than spreading limited capital too thinly. “I’ve always said I would rather we pulled together and build one or two unicorns out of our country than trying to carry everybody along at the same time,” he said.
For banks and investors, the minister’s message was equally demanding: look beyond collateral that can be physically touched and develop methods for valuing intellectual property, technology platforms and scalable business models.
For entrepreneurs, he called for discipline, transparency and stronger governance, declaring that “capital does not chase good ideas. It chases business that it can trust.” That distinction could determine whether Ghana remains a country rich in technology startups but poor in scaled companies, or begins producing firms capable of competing across Africa and internationally.
The final test will be execution rather than rhetoric. Mr George called for financing instruments, guarantee facilities and investment vehicles to become accessible “in months, not years”, warning that Ghanaian technology companies cannot afford prolonged delays while other markets scale faster.
“The future belongs to economies that can connect technology, talent, and capital, and do it well,” he said, a challenge that places the burden not only on entrepreneurs, but on banks, regulators and government to build a financial architecture capable of turning digital ideas into globally competitive Ghanaian companies.
