Beyond Borders: Why geographic diversification is a strategic financial choice for West African businesses and families

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Beyond Borders: Why geographic diversification is a strategic financial choice for West African businesses and families

For many years, international banking has been misunderstood. It has often been associated with secrecy, exclusivity or tax avoidance. The reality today could not be more different.

In an increasingly interconnected world, offshore banking has evolved into a legitimate financial planning tool used by globally minded individuals, entrepreneurs and businesses seeking stability, efficiency and access to international opportunities. Across West Africa, where businesses are expanding beyond domestic markets and high-net-worth individuals are becoming increasingly global in their outlook, international wealth diversification is no longer a luxury. It is becoming a strategic necessity.

As economies across Ghana, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire continue to integrate with international markets, the ability to bank beyond national borders is emerging as an important competitive advantage.

A changing African economy

West Africa is witnessing the rise of a new generation of entrepreneurs, investors and business owners. These are companies importing machinery from Europe, exporting commodities to Asia, investing in real estate across multiple jurisdictions and raising capital from international partners. Many have family members studying abroad, children attending universities overseas or investment interests spanning several countries.

Yet many continue to rely solely on domestic banking relationships that were designed primarily for local transactions. As businesses become increasingly international, financial solutions must evolve accordingly. The question is no longer whether African businesses will become global. Many already are. The question is whether their banking arrangements are keeping pace.

Why internationally diversified banking makes business sense

Maintaining banking relationships across multiple jurisdictions should never replace a strong domestic banking relationship. Rather, it complements it. For businesses, an international banking partner can provide greater flexibility when managing cross-border trade, foreign currency transactions and international supplier payments.

For internationally mobile individuals and families, diversified banking offers access to multicurrency accounts, global payment capabilities and internationally recognised financial centres operating under robust regulatory frameworks. Perhaps most importantly, it provides diversification.

Just as investors diversify portfolios, sophisticated clients increasingly diversify where they hold banking relationships. This diversification often extends across jurisdictions, with geographic diversification becoming an important element of prudent financial planning.

Supporting African businesses as they expand

Across my conversations with business leaders throughout West Africa, one common theme consistently emerges. Businesses are expanding faster than their banking structures.

Manufacturers entering new export markets, technology companies serving international customers, mining service providers operating across several jurisdictions and professional firms supporting multinational clients all require banking solutions that are equally international.

A cross-border banking platform can help facilitate international collections, improve payment efficiency and support businesses as they establish operations in multiple jurisdictions. Rather than seeing international banking as something to consider “one day”, many businesses are recognising that it should form part of their growth strategy from the outset.

Protecting Wealth Across Generations

The conversation extends beyond business. Africa is experiencing unprecedented wealth creation. Alongside this comes an increasing focus on preserving wealth for future generations. Successful entrepreneurs are asking different questions.

  • How do I structure my wealth internationally?
  • How do I invest globally?
  • How do I provide for children studying abroad?
  • How do I ensure continuity if my family becomes increasingly international?

These questions require more than traditional banking. They require holistic wealth planning supported by trusted advisers who understand both local realities and global opportunities. This is where a broader wealth management conversation begins and thrives.

The Importance of Choosing the Right Partner

Not all international banking relationships are created equal. Clients today require more than simply opening an overseas account. They expect relationship-led banking, specialist expertise, robust compliance standards and access to a broader ecosystem of wealth, lending, fiduciary and investment solutions.

Equally important is having professionals who understand African markets while possessing the capability to connect clients with international financial centres. That local understanding, combined with global reach, is where true value is created.

A West African Perspective

Having worked with businesses and high-net-worth clients across West Africa, I have seen firsthand the increasing sophistication of our entrepreneurs. Our clients are no longer restricted by national boundaries. They are investing regionally. They are acquiring businesses internationally. They are educating children globally. They are building family wealth with a multi-generational perspective. Shouldn’t their banking reflect that same ambition? The future belongs to businesses and families that think globally while remaining firmly rooted in Africa.

Looking Ahead

The next decade will likely see even greater integration between African economies and the rest of the world. Cross-border trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), increasing foreign investment and growing international mobility will continue to reshape how African businesses operate. Banking must evolve alongside these changes.

The opportunities to deepen a financial foothold across geographical boundaries are no longer simply about holding an account outside one’s country of residence. It is also about providing businesses and families with access to international financial infrastructure that supports growth, protects wealth and enables opportunity.

For forward-thinking entrepreneurs, investors and internationally connected families across Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Angola, banking beyond borders is no longer an aspiration. It is becoming a strategic financial decision.

As Africa’s influence in the global economy continues to grow, those who position themselves with internationally connected financial partners today will be better placed to seize tomorrow’s opportunities. The future of African wealth will not be defined by borders. It will be defined by vision.

24 Hour Economy Defends Record Against Critics

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24 Hour Economy Defends Record Against Critics

Ghana’s 24 Hour Economy Secretariat is disputing Minority claims that the flagship jobs programme has produced no results despite roughly 650 billion cedis in government spending since 2025.

The dispute traces to remarks by Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Ranking Member on Parliament’s Economy and Development Committee, who told the House this week that nearly two years into the administration, no government agency has adopted the “one job, three people, three shifts” model the policy was built around, popularly known as 1 3 3.

“There is not one government agency implementing the one three three model,” Oppong Nkrumah said, citing Ghana Statistical Service figures putting youth unemployment at about 32.4 percent to argue the delay carries real cost. He noted the Minority pushed unsuccessfully for amendments to the 24 Hour Economy Authority Bill, passed in February with presidential assent, that would have named specific agencies such as the DVLA, Customs and the Passport Office as early adopters of round the clock operations. He also questioned the government’s newer focus on building 24 hour markets, pointing to existing markets in his constituency that already sit idle most days of the week.

The Secretariat’s response reframes what success should look like. It argues the programme was always designed as private sector led, with government limited to project preparation, coordination and viability gap financing rather than direct funding of most projects, and that the roughly 650 billion cedis Oppong Nkrumah cited represents the entire national budget across all government activity, not spending on this initiative specifically. It points to 5.5 billion dollars in Joint Development Agreements signed with co development partners as of May, a jobs target of 1.7 million by 2028, and four recent agreements it says will generate more than 160,000 direct jobs on their own.

Among the projects the Secretariat cites as evidence are a 1.45 billion dollar solar and battery facility at Buipe expected to deliver 1,500 megawatts and about 13,000 jobs, and a 250 million dollar oil palm complex at Kambonwule projected to support up to 120,000 jobs once fully running. It also points to extended hour services already operating at the DVLA, Ghana Publishing Company and Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority.

What the two sides dispute is less whether investment activity exists than whether it matches what was promised. Oppong Nkrumah’s benchmark is the specific 1 3 3 shift model government agencies were meant to demonstrate first; the Secretariat’s benchmark is private capital mobilized and projects in the pipeline, a shift in framing that leaves the original shift based promise still unmet by the Secretariat’s own account, even as it argues the underlying investment case is real.

Ghana Card Now Requires Biometric Verification

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Ghana Card Now Requires Biometric Verification

Ghana has made biometric verification the only lawful way to authenticate a Ghana Card for transactions, banning photocopies and visual checks under a newly gazetted regulation.

National Identification Authority Executive Secretary Wisdom Yayra Koku Deku announced the change in a Facebook statement, saying the amendment to the National Identity Register Regulations, 2012, had come into force after sitting before Parliament for three months before being gazetted this week.

“It is now an offence to photocopy or visually inspect a Ghana Card,” Deku said, describing biometric checks as the only method institutions may now use to confirm a cardholder’s identity.

Based on the current penalty unit value of 12 cedis, institutions that keep relying on photocopies or visual inspection face fines between 6,000 and 24,000 cedis upon summary conviction, while individuals who breach the rule risk fines from 600 to 6,000 cedis. The amendment also introduces biometric liveness checks for customers opening accounts through digital channels and limits institutions from transacting with anyone who does not hold a Ghana Card, Non Citizen Identity Card or Refugee Identity Card, except in narrowly defined circumstances.

The change builds on more than a year of groundwork. The Bank of Ghana and the NIA held a stakeholder session with the Ghana Association of Banks and all 25 universal banks in March 2025 specifically on identity verification standards, part of a broader push to close gaps that let photocopied or forged Ghana Cards slip through account opening and other transactions tied to fraud.

The card was already mandatory under Regulation 7 of the 2012 rules for a wide range of transactions, including passport and driver’s licence applications, opening personal bank accounts, buying insurance, land transactions, pension and National Health Insurance dealings, SIM registration, voter registration, tax payments and applications for government services. What changes now is how institutions must confirm the card is genuine and belongs to the person presenting it, shifting the burden from a visual check to a biometric match against the national register.

Deku said the sector minister will address the public in the coming days on how enforcement will work in practice, and the NIA invited institutions that need verification services to begin onboarding onto its Identity Verification Platform by emailing [email protected]. Whether the rule takes hold nationwide will depend on how quickly public and private institutions, especially smaller businesses without existing digital infrastructure, can connect to that system.

NACOC Seizes GH₵100m Tramadol At Airport

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NACOC Seizes GH₵100m Tramadol At Airport

Ghana’s Narcotics Control Commission arrested three suspects after intercepting about five million tramadol tablets worth roughly 100 million cedis at Kotoka International Airport.

NACOC said the arrests followed an intelligence led operation targeting a shipment officials believed contained the illicit pharmaceutical opioid. Preliminary investigations suggest the consignment was meant for distribution inside Ghana and possibly onward across West Africa, and the Commission said it suspects the seizure connects to a wider trafficking network it is still working to map. The recovered tablets remain in custody as evidence while forensic and documentary analysis continues, and the three suspects are expected to appear in court once investigations close.

The bust is smaller in scale than the record haul NACOC intercepted at Tema Port in March, when officers seized nearly 147 million undeclared tramadol tablets worth about 146 million cedis, a case that led to the arrest of nine public officials, including personnel from NACOC itself, Customs, Port Security, the Ghana Standards Authority and the Energy Commission. That case remains separate from Thursday’s airport seizure, but it illustrates a vulnerability NACOC has acknowledged: trafficking networks sometimes move product through the same institutions tasked with stopping them.

NACOC’s own figures put this seizure in a broader pattern. The Commission reported making 217 arrests and securing 165 prosecutions between 2025 and this past April, alongside more than 8.5 tonnes of narcotics seized in that period, including 45.4 million tramadol tablets, a volume the Commission said was enough to supply one opioid dose to every person in Ghana. To keep pace, NACOC has expanded its district commands from fewer than ten to 77 nationwide and secured land at Akwamu for a dedicated training school. Aging scanners at Kotoka International Airport, the same facility where Thursday’s shipment was caught, are scheduled for replacement by August as part of that expansion.

Tramadol carries legitimate medical uses as a pain reliever but has become one of the most widely abused opioids in West Africa, particularly in high dosage forms exceeding Ghana’s legal limits. NACOC renewed its appeal for the public to report suspicious activity as investigators work to trace the rest of the network behind Thursday’s shipment.

SIMS Collective Investment Schemes Deliver Strong 2025 Performance; AUM Surpasses GHS 2.5 Billion

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SIMS Collective Investment Schemes Deliver Strong 2025 Performance; AUM Surpasses GHS 2.5 Billion

Stanbic Investment Management Services (SIMS) has reported strong performance across its Collective Investment Schemes for the 2025 financial year, with total assets under management exceeding a combined GHS 2.5 billion. This milestone reflects significant growth in investor confidence, supported by improving macroeconomic conditions and disciplined portfolio strategies. The Funds’ performance was highlighted at the Annual General Meeting held on 19 June 2026, where the company outlined robust gains across its flagship funds – Stanbic Cash Trust (SCT), Stanbic Income Fund Trust (SIFT), and Platinum Debt Income Fund PLC (PDIF).

Strong Growth Across Funds

All three funds recorded notable growth in assets under management. The Stanbic Cash Trust more than doubled in size, increasing by 114% to approximately GHS 1.66 billion. The Stanbic Income Fund Trust also grew by 35.6% to GHS 645.9 million, while the Platinum Debt Income Fund expanded by 199% to over GHS 212 million. This growth was driven by renewed investor participation and improved market conditions, including declining inflation, falling interest rates, and a strengthening Ghana cedi.

Impressive Returns and Benchmark Outperformance

 SIMS’ funds delivered strong returns and outperformed key benchmarks. The Stanbic Cash Trust main class recorded a return of 33.2%, significantly above its benchmark of 19.8%, while the Stanbic Income Fund Trust delivered 35.3%, outperforming its benchmark of 21.1%. The performance was largely attributed to falling yields and bond price appreciation, which supported significant valuation gains across fixed-income portfolios.

Strategic Positioning Drives Performance

 Fund Managers attributed the strong performance to disciplined investment strategies and proactive portfolio repositioning.

The Stanbic Cash Trust maintained a conservative approach focused on capital preservation and liquidity, with investments primarily in treasury bills and fixed deposits. Earlier this year, the fund was rebalanced away from government bonds into money market instruments, restoring liquidity and reducing duration risk. “The fund’s priority remains capital preservation, liquidity, and competitive risk-adjusted returns,” said the Portfolio Manager, Santi Sackey, noting that the repositioning restored the fund’s expected risk profile.

The Stanbic Income Fund Trust continued to focus on medium- to long-term corporate and sovereign bonds, benefiting from the decline in benchmark interest and improved bond market activity. The fund is expected to remain significantly weighted in the 2027 and 2028 maturities, which are anticipated to serve as the primary anchor of portfolio returns. The Manager reopened the main fund to new deposits, which has enabled investors to capitalise on lower yields and reduced portfolio volatility.

Unlisted Credit Strategy Supports Growth

The Platinum Debt Income Fund PLC, which focuses on long-term debt investments, delivered robust asset growth and a weighted average yield of 15.3%. According to the Fund Manager, Boaz Asare, the Fund continues to unlock attractive return opportunities by strategically diversifying its unlisted debt portfolio across key sectors, including financial services, fintech, transport, and mining.

 Commitment to Investor Value

The Fund manager and trustee implemented fee reductions to help cushion investors from new regulatory costs and statutory obligations introduced this year. The SCT Fund management fees were reduced from 2.25% to 2.00%, while trustee fees reduced from 0.40% to 0.25%.

Outlook

 Looking ahead, fund managers anticipate continued market volatility driven by global developments and Ghana’s economic transition. However, they remain optimistic about emerging opportunities, particularly in the domestic bond market.

With a focus on disciplined portfolio management, liquidity, and strategic investing, SIMS is well positioned to sustain growth and deliver competitive returns to investors.

Analyst Says Ghana Lacks Real Waste System

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Analyst Says Ghana Lacks Real Waste System

Ghana does not have a functioning waste management system because responsibility for sanitation is split across too many overlapping institutions, a CDD Ghana researcher says.

Chetan Mengel, a research assistant at the Centre for Democratic Development, told Asaase Radio’s Townhall Talk that the country’s sanitation setup barely qualifies as a system at all.

“We have so many fragmented pieces moving together,” he said, arguing that no single body can be held accountable when waste piles up or drains clog.

Mengel noted that Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies carry the legal mandate for sanitation, yet private waste collectors and informal operators handle much of the actual work without clear coordination between them. That gap is not new or accidental. Government created the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources in January 2017 specifically to unify oversight of the sector, but its own National Solid Waste Management Strategy acknowledges that institutional complexity persisted even after the ministry’s creation. Under current arrangements, the Environmental Protection Agency regulates environmental compliance, MMDAs oversee day to day service delivery, and Regional Coordinating Councils hold a separate coordinating role, while private collection contracts are negotiated nationally through the Ministry of Local Government rather than by the assemblies that answer for results locally. A national regulator meant to unify the system, the proposed National Sanitation Authority, has yet to be fully established years after it was first recommended.

That layered structure is what Mengel says leaves citizens unable to answer a basic question: who is actually responsible for their waste once it leaves the curb. He argued that without clear lines of accountability covering collection, transportation, treatment and final disposal, Ghana will keep cycling through emergency cleanups without building the coherent strategy the sector needs. He called on government to assign clear institutional leadership rather than leaving assemblies, private operators and informal collectors to coordinate informally, saying that clarity, not another campaign, is what would actually change outcomes.

Court Voids AG Bid To Revoke Travel Order

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Court Voids AG Bid To Revoke Travel Order

An Accra High Court declined to revoke a former NAFCO chief’s travel permission Thursday, ruling the order had already expired after his dramatic airport arrest delayed the hearing past its own deadline.

The case centers on Hanan Abdul-Wahab Aludiba, former chief executive of the National Food and Buffer Stock Company and first accused in the Buffer Stock case, who received court permission on June 29 to travel to London for treatment of a worsening eye condition. The order set a return date of July 12. On July 4, the day his travel window opened, Bureau of National Investigations officers arrested him at Kotoka International Airport, with prosecutors alleging he had tried to access funds in a Republic Bank account frozen under orders from the Economic and Organised Crime Office. Aludiba denies the allegation and says he completed all travel clearance before being confronted by armed officers.

The Attorney General filed a motion on July 8, while the travel order remained valid, seeking to set it aside based on what prosecutors called new information that undermined the basis for the original grant. By the time the court heard the motion on July 16, the July 12 deadline had passed.

“There is no order for me to revoke,” presiding Justice Achibonga said, holding that the travel authorization was self limiting and had already lapsed on its own terms. Deputy Attorney General Dr. Justice Srem-Sai conceded the application had been overtaken by events and withdrew it, and the court struck the motion out.

Defense counsel Godfred Yeboah Dame, a former Attorney General now representing Aludiba, argued the sequence was not incidental. He said the state’s own conduct, arresting and detaining his client for four days during the travel window and then pressing the revocation motion until after the order expired, effectively defeated the court’s original ruling without needing a decision on the merits.

“They prevented the court order from being obeyed by arresting him,” Dame said, adding that the Republic remained in breach of the June 29 order by continuing to hold Aludiba’s passport and other seized items. Aludiba has separately asked the court to compel the BNI and EOCO to return his passport, roughly 7,000 pounds and two mobile phones taken during the arrest, and has filed a habeas corpus application challenging his detention.

The underlying criminal case continues. The court adjourned to July 20, when it will hear a defense motion to strike out the current charge sheet in the substantive proceedings. If granted, that would end the case as currently framed, but unless the court finds a defect barring prosecution altogether, it would not amount to an acquittal, and the Attorney General could refile charges after addressing whatever problem the court identifies.

Donkor Urges Nuclear Push For Industrial Power

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Donkor Urges Nuclear Push For Industrial Power

Former Power Minister Kwabena Donkor says Ghana must fast track nuclear energy and clean coal, arguing the current power mix cannot support serious industrialisation even though it sustains everyday economic activity.

Speaking to veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jr., Donkor said hydropower from Akosombo, Kpong and Bui supplies roughly 35 percent of Ghana’s electricity, with thermal plants covering most of the remainder and solar contributing only 3 to 5 percent. He said Ghana has already tapped most of its major hydropower sites, leaving little room to expand that source further, while heavy reliance on thermal generation is becoming harder to sustain because the country lacks enough natural gas reserves of its own. Standalone gas fields cost more to develop than gas produced alongside crude oil, he said, since the latter shares its production costs with oil output.

On price, Donkor noted that some thermal plants already generate power below 10 US cents per kilowatt hour, but the national average sits higher once transmission and distribution costs are added, a level he called insufficient for energy intensive industry. He said solar has a real role for households, schools and CHPS compounds, and that expanding rooftop installations there would free up hydropower for industrial users, but argued current battery technology cannot store the volumes needed to run heavy industry on solar alone.

Donkor wants government to accelerate Ghana’s nuclear programme toward roughly 2,000 megawatts of capacity, later expanding to 6,000 megawatts or more over two decades, calling nuclear the cheapest realistic option at two to four US cents per kilowatt hour once built. He proposed clean coal as a three year bridge in the meantime, arguing modern plants could deliver power at four to six cents while hydropower is reserved for industry until nuclear comes online.

“If you are over-cautious, you remain behind,” he said, dismissing safety concerns as a reason to slow down, and pointing to Ghana’s three decades running a research reactor as evidence of existing technical capacity.

Ghana’s actual nuclear timeline currently trails Donkor’s ambition. The Nuclear Power Institute at the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission says the country is working through Phase Two of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Milestones framework, covering site studies, public communication and vendor talks, with a preferred site already chosen but funding challenges slowing progress toward Phase Three construction. The World Nuclear Association lists Ghana’s near term target at 1,000 megawatts by the mid-2030s, roughly half the initial scale Donkor is pushing for and on a timeline his proposal treats as a starting point rather than an end goal.

Professor Urges Ghana To Develop Its Coastline

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Professor Urges Ghana To Develop Its Coastline

A UPSA management professor says Ghana should turn its coastline into a ferry and tourism corridor, an idea that aligns with a coastal transport system the government is already planning.

Professor Frederick Doe of the University of Professional Studies, Accra, argued that the stretch of coast running from Keta through Tema, Accra, Winneba, Cape Coast, Sekondi Takoradi and Axim remains underused because Ghana has built its transport network almost entirely around roads despite sitting on the Gulf of Guinea. He said ferry and speedboat services could give commuters an alternative to congested highways, pointing to a traveler from Aflao who could reach Accra or Tema by water rather than driving the full route by road.

Doe said a working maritime economy would create jobs beyond the boats themselves, including ferry operations, maintenance, ticketing and marine safety, alongside restaurants, resorts and recreational businesses like surfing and cruising that could draw both domestic and international visitors. He argued the private investment needed to build that ecosystem depends on government moving first.

“The private sector can only come in when government has created an enabling environment,” he said.

That environment may already be taking shape. The Ministry of Transport confirmed in May that it is running a procurement process to select a consultant for a coastal water transport system, an initiative Deputy Minister Dorcas Affo-Toffey announced at the 7th Africa Ports Forum in Accra as part of a broader push to ease road congestion and position Ghana as a maritime logistics hub in West Africa. Affo-Toffey noted that more than 90 percent of the country’s international trade already moves by sea, underscoring the government’s stated priority on modernizing port and coastal infrastructure. Ghana is separately pursuing a third commercial port at Keta to relieve pressure on Tema and Takoradi, both approaching capacity limits, a project officials have also framed around fisheries, tourism and coastal job creation.

Industry reports on Ghana’s maritime sector point to real obstacles ahead of any coastal transit rollout, including a fragmented regulatory framework with overlapping agency responsibilities, large numbers of unregistered boat operators, and safety records on inland waterways like Lake Volta that remain a concern. Doe’s proposal and the government’s own planning both depend on closing those gaps before ferries and speedboats can move from concept to daily commute.

Wontumi Seeks Supreme Court Referral Before Verdict

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Wontumi Seeks Supreme Court Referral Before Verdict

Lawyers for NPP Ashanti Regional Chairman Bernard Antwi Boasiako have asked an Accra High Court to send constitutional questions on Ghana’s mining law to the Supreme Court before delivering a verdict due July 20.

The application, filed July 16 in the Criminal Division 4 of the High Court, asks Justice Audrey Kocuvie Tay to pause judgment in Suit No. CR/0004/2026, where Antwi Boasiako, known widely as Chairman Wontumi, stands trial alongside Akonta Mining Company Limited and Kwame Antwi, who remains at large. An affidavit deposed by law clerk Peter Owusu of Zoe, Akyea and Co. argues that sections 14(1), 59 and 99(2)(b) of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006, as amended in 2019, are vague and overbroad enough to conflict with Article 19(11) of the Constitution, which requires that any criminal offence be clearly defined in written law before a conviction can stand.

Lead counsel Samuel Atta Akyea told the court the request is not a delay tactic but a safeguard against a scenario where the Supreme Court later strikes down the same provisions underpinning the charges.

“Would preserve the integrity of the judicial process,” the affidavit said of the proposed referral, adding that no harm would come to the prosecution’s case from the pause.

Wontumi and Akonta Mining were arraigned in October 2025 on two counts of assigning mineral rights without ministerial approval and two counts of facilitating unlicensed mining, tied to activity at a company concession in Samreboi in the Western Region. Both entered not guilty pleas. The court found a prima facie case last year and rejected a defense submission that there was no case to answer, sending the matter to trial. Proceedings concluded June 24 with written addresses from both sides, and the court had set July 20 for judgment before this application was filed. Separately, Akyea has told the court that if judges decline to refer the constitutional questions, his client should be acquitted outright on the existing charges.

The High Court is scheduled to hear the referral motion on July 29, meaning the case now hinges on whether the constitutional questions reach the Supreme Court before, rather than after, a verdict is delivered.

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