Captain Prince Kofi Amoabeng (Retired) has cautioned that Ghana’s industrialization will remain stunted unless government deliberately channels long term patient capital toward manufacturers, processors and builders who drive real economic transformation. Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Point of View with Bernard Koku Avle on December 10, 2025, the former UT Bank founder argued that Africa’s socio-economic development will continue crawling until the continent deliberately funds people who make things.
The entrepreneur explained that industrial projects operate on long timelines and require what economists describe as patient capital, funds willing to wait years before returns materialize. While banks readily support buying and selling because of quick turnaround, factory projects face realities that commercial loans simply cannot accommodate, he noted.
Amoabeng identified multiple challenges making the industrial sector unattractive for banks to finance. Manufacturers typically develop two year plans to complete plants, yet setbacks such as power issues, import delays and policy changes often extend timelines to four or five years. Banks become uncomfortable with such extended periods, yet manufacturers need devoted funds flowing into these areas.
Factories take time to build, machines require huge upfront investment, raw materials need stable supply, and when setbacks occur, manufacturers suffer the hardest blows. That is why industrialization cannot rely on the same funding model used for commerce, Amoabeng stressed.
The former military officer maintained that government must intentionally direct long term financing toward industrialists the same way other countries do. He revealed that UT Bank, during its years of operation, attempted to support some manufacturing ventures, but the risks were enormous because the broader financial ecosystem was not designed to back industry.
He emphasized that without tailored support through a deliberate policy backing people who want to build factories and plants for industrialization, the industry will remain in the hands of foreigners who have access to patient capital. Ghana has the talent and the ambition, but it lacks the courage to fund industrialization deliberately and consistently, he argued.
Amoabeng acknowledged that government’s recent efforts to stabilize the economy by reducing inflation, lowering interest rates and anchoring the exchange rate create a better environment for long term finance. He admitted that once interest rates fall and the cedi stabilizes, the incentive to keep buying Treasury Bills reduces, helping the financial sector direct more money into long term ventures.
However, macro stability alone is not enough. What Ghana needs is an intentional, structured plan to channel money into manufacturing, he stressed. Government is tackling all the essential things to ensure the country can develop and grow businesses long term, but it takes time for people to appreciate it and believe in it, he noted.
The 2026 National Budget positions industrialization at the heart of Ghana’s economic recovery and transformation, with government rolling out initiatives to expand domestic manufacturing, promote import substitution and boost export oriented production. Through the Rapid Industrialisation for Jobs Programme, government aims to strengthen the country’s industrial base and create employment opportunities.
A major component is the Industrial Finance and Export Guarantee Facility, managed by the Development Bank Ghana (DBG), which will provide long term, affordable financing to industrial enterprises. The programme also complements ongoing efforts to complete industrial parks and special economic zones in Kumasi, Tamale and Takoradi, equipped with reliable energy, transport and water infrastructure to attract private investment.
Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson highlighted the Feed the Industry Policy, designed to link agriculture and manufacturing by ensuring local producers supply reliable raw materials to domestic processing industries. The policy particularly targets the food processing, textile and pharmaceutical sectors. The Ghana Standards Reform Programme will improve product certification, quality assurance and compliance with international trade standards, enhancing Ghana’s competitiveness in global markets including under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The minister noted that industrial reforms are expected to support over 300,000 new jobs by 2028, reduce import dependency and increase the manufacturing sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), signaling a decisive shift toward a self sustaining, production driven economy.
At the Africa Trade Summit 2026 launch in November, African leaders and private sector players were charged to self finance the continent’s industrial transformation, signaling a historic shift toward economic sovereignty. The call came under the theme Financing Africa’s Industrialisation: Developing Value Chains, Beneficiation and Market Integration, scheduled for January 28 to 30, 2026 in Accra.
Sir Sam Jonah, Chair of the Advisory Board of the African Trade Chamber, said Africa’s financing transformation must be private sector led, with Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) and manufacturers becoming the primary engines of growth. He pointed to successful industrialization models in Singapore, South Korea and China, noting that China lifted 800 million people out of poverty by building domestic manufacturing capacity rather than relying on foreign financing for raw material exports.
President John Mahama told delegates at the WHX Leaders Africa Summit in Accra that government funding alone cannot sustain the country’s medical systems. He urged Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), private equity and venture investors to co finance the continent’s health industrialization. The president noted that much equipment from a previous $250 million retooling effort is now out of service, undermining national health delivery.
Economic analysts note that Ghana’s private companies face significant challenges in accessing the long term, patient capital required to scale sustainably. High interest rates, a limited pool of local private debt instruments and a scarcity of equity investors have created a financing gap that stifles growth. To address this, there is urgent need for a structured investment vehicle that enables pension funds to participate, both directly and indirectly, in private equity and growth capital opportunities.
Ghana’s pension funds hold billions in potential long term patient capital, yet most remains parked in short term government securities, creating a paradox where the country has substantial patient capital but continues suffering from acute shortage of long term financing for infrastructure, industrial expansion and private sector growth.
At present, most Ghanaian private companies cannot access the sustained financing needed for factories, processing plants or large scale manufacturing operations. This financing gap, combined with policy inconsistency and institutional weakness, keeps Ghana consuming what others produce while exporting its potential.
African data shows that manufacturing projects received only 15.7 percent of greenfield investment project values between 2010 and 2022, while extractives commanded 56 percent of total project value, highlighting persistent structural imbalances in investment patterns. Analysis revealed significant misalignment between available financing and Africa’s industrialization priorities, with 60 to 70 percent of Official Development Assistance flowing to social sectors with minimal allocation to industry and trade development.
Despite these challenges, Africa holds more than $4 trillion in mobilizable capital from institutional assets, banking sector liquidity and sovereign reserves. Pension and insurance funds control over $165 billion, though most remains invested in government securities rather than productive industrial assets. Diaspora remittances exceed $45 billion annually, yet diaspora bonds remain underutilized as financing instruments.
Morocco’s Tangier Med port development and automotive clusters now export over 400,000 vehicles annually, demonstrating the transformative potential of aligned financing. Ethiopia attracted $3 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through industrial parks in 2016, though political instability subsequently reversed many gains. Rwanda’s integrated financing framework successfully channeled funds to SMEs and Special Economic Zones.
The African Development Bank has issued $6 billion in sustainable bonds, while South Africa raised $1.1 billion through similar instruments. Blended finance mechanisms, using first loss donor tranches to improve risk return profiles, are gaining traction though remain small relative to Africa’s financing requirements.
Amoabeng’s call echoes broader concerns among development analysts who argue that services cannot transform a country whose people need factories, not just offices. Industrial sectors create material things needed to survive and provide sustainable employment. Until Ghana changes its approach to funding industrialization deliberately and consistently, the continent will keep consuming what others produce, the former banker concluded.
