The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is urging property and vehicle buyers to verify assets through its Collateral Registry before completing transactions, warning that failure to do so is fuelling a surge in costly disputes and legal action across the country.
Fred Asiamah-Koranteng, Director at the Collateral Registry of the Bank of Ghana, said many buyers are committing funds to purchases without conducting basic checks, only to discover after the fact that the same assets had already been pledged as collateral for loans by the seller or developer.
“The process is straightforward but often overlooked. If you check and the asset appears in the system, it confirms that it is encumbered. If it does not, that also serves as a safeguard, particularly in the event of a dispute,” he said.
He was speaking at a borrowers and lenders workshop organised by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in Accra. The forum brought together industry players to deepen understanding of Ghana’s secured credit framework and its practical implications for businesses and individuals.
Asiamah-Koranteng explained that a simple online search on the registry costs GH¢10, payable via mobile money or digital banking, and can confirm whether a property, vehicle or other asset carries any existing encumbrance before money changes hands. He stressed that the registry does not determine ownership but provides critical information that both buyers and lenders need to manage financial and legal risk.
Several cases have emerged, he noted, where buyers discovered mid-transaction that developers had already used the same assets to secure credit facilities, triggering ownership disputes and litigation that could have been avoided.
The Bank of Ghana’s Second Deputy Governor, Matilda Asante-Asiedu, speaking through a representative, said the workshop forms part of a broader drive to build a more transparent and inclusive credit environment in Ghana. She pointed to encouraging macroeconomic progress, noting that inflation has fallen sharply from a peak of 54.1 percent in December 2022 to 3.2 percent at the end of March 2026, while the monetary policy rate has eased from 28 percent to 14 percent over the same period.
She cautioned, however, that those gains would only translate into meaningful economic outcomes if businesses actively leverage improved financing conditions.
Asante-Asiedu said the Collateral Registry has recorded 1.92 million secured transactions and 3.2 million assets between 2010 and 2025, reflecting its growing role in expanding credit access. Despite that scale, she said awareness and usage among the broader public and business community remains insufficient.
AGI President Kofi Nsiah-Poku welcomed the engagement, describing access to finance as a critical pillar for business growth, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, and called for greater mutual accountability between borrowers and lenders within a clearly understood regulatory framework.
