The total value of secured credit advanced and registered in Ghana surged to GH¢31.5 billion in the second quarter of 2026, the Bank of Ghana has revealed in its Second Quarter Brief on the 2026 Collateral Registry, marking a substantial 73.4% year-on-year expansion from GH¢18.2 billion recorded in the same period of 2025.
The quarter-on-quarter comparison was equally striking. Total secured credit value rose 57.5% between the first and second quarters of 2026, reflecting a sharp acceleration in collateralised lending activity across the economy.
Banks Dominate, But Non-Bank Lenders Show Mixed Fortunes
Banks continued to dominate the secured transactions landscape by value of registered credit, accounting for GH¢19.9 billion, equivalent to 63.1% of total secured credit value registered in the second quarter of 2026. This represented a 36.6% increase over the GH¢14.5 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2025.
Other lenders — a category encompassing non-bank financial institutions and other credit providers — contributed GH¢8.3 billion, or 26.3% of the total value of secured credit. The remainder was accounted for by other categories of lenders.
The quarter-on-quarter data revealed divergent trajectories across lender types. Banks recorded a 21.5% increase in secured credit value, while Rural and Community Banks posted a 12.2% rise. In contrast, Savings and Loans companies, Micro Finance Institutions, and Micro Credit Institutions all recorded declines — a trend that suggests a consolidation of lending activity within larger, better-capitalised institutions.
Foreign-Controlled Banks Maintain Dominance as Indigenous Banks Post Triple-Digit Growth
Within the banking sector, foreign-controlled banks registered GH¢14.1 billion in secured credit, representing 71.1% of the GH¢19.9 billion registered by banks during the review period. This reflected an increase of 19.3% over the GH¢11.8 billion recorded in the second quarter of 2025.
Indigenous banks, however, recorded a far more dramatic expansion. They registered GH¢5.7 billion in secured credit during the quarter, corresponding to a year-on-year growth of 112.4% from GH¢2.7 billion in the second quarter of 2025. While foreign-controlled banks retain the dominant share of secured lending by value, the pace of growth among locally owned institutions signals a steady narrowing of the gap.
According to the Bank of Ghana, the distribution “underscores the continued dominance of foreign-controlled banks in secured lending, while also reflecting steady growth among indigenous banks.”
A Boost from Easing Monetary Conditions
The surge in secured lending occurred against the backdrop of one of the most aggressive monetary easing cycles in Ghana’s recent history. The Bank of Ghana reduced its benchmark Monetary Policy Rate from 28% in April 2025 to 14.0% by March 2026, a cumulative reduction of 1,400 basis points, citing sustained disinflation and improved macroeconomic conditions.
Headline inflation slowed to 3.3% in February 2026 — its lowest level since the rebasing of the price index in 2021 — down from 23.1% in February 2025. The 91-day Treasury bill rate, a benchmark for short-term borrowing costs, fell from 11.09% in December 2025 to 5.73% in June 2026.
The effects have filtered through to lending markets. Average bank lending rates declined from approximately 27.0% in June 2025 to 15.6% in June 2026, according to the World Bank’s 10th Ghana Economic Update. The Ghana Reference Rate dropped from about 23.8% to 10.0% over the same period. Commercial lending rates reached 15.64% in June 2026, their lowest level in more than a year.
The broader credit expansion has been equally pronounced. Gross loans and advances increased by 39.4% year-on-year to GH¢124.3 billion as of the end of June 2026, compared with 5.5% growth at the end of June 2025. Private-sector credit grew by 41.2% year-on-year in nominal terms and 34.1% in real terms, with the private sector’s share of total credit rising to 96.2%.
The Collateral Registry: A Pillar of Secured Lending
The Bank of Ghana’s Collateral Registry, which compiles the quarterly data, was established under the Borrowers and Lenders Act, 2008 (Act 773), later repealed and replaced by the Borrowers and Lenders Act, 2020 (Act 1052). It was operationalised on 1 February 2010 as Africa’s first collateral registry, providing a centralised, web-based platform for registering security interests in movable and immovable assets.
The Registry serves as a one-stop shop for collateral information, enabling lenders to conduct due diligence and establish priority over pledged assets in the event of default. Under Act 1052, lenders are mandated to register a security interest within 28 days of creating it. The framework has expanded the range of assets that can be pledged as collateral — from vehicles and machinery to inventory and receivables — widening access to credit for borrowers who lack traditional forms of collateral, particularly micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which account for approximately 92% of businesses in Ghana and over 80% of the workforce.
The Registry also provides an enforcement function, allowing lenders to realise pledged assets without initiating court proceedings. The Bank of Ghana has lauded the Registry’s contribution to financial inclusion, and an International Finance Corporation-backed modernisation effort has supported more than 324,000 MSMEs in accessing loans secured with movable assets.
However, the second-quarter brief also revealed a notable decline in the number of security interest registrations, which fell to 92,033 from 135,721 in the second quarter of 2025. The divergence between a sharp rise in total value and a decline in the volume of registrations suggests that individual secured loans are becoming significantly larger — a trend consistent with the dominance of larger banks and the concentration of credit in high-value sectors such as services, commerce, finance, and construction.
The Bank of Ghana is set to deploy advanced technology-based solutions, including artificial intelligence, to enhance the efficiency, security, and user experience of the Collateral Registry system. Fees for registry services are also set to increase from 1 November 2026, with registration of secured interest rising to GH¢30 and late registration to GH¢50.
Looking Ahead
The Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee maintained the policy rate at 14.0% at its July 2026 meeting, signalling that policymakers believe monetary conditions are approaching a more neutral setting. The Committee has projected that inflation will return to its medium-term target band of 8 ± 2% in the coming months, absent significant external shocks.
While the sharp increase in secured lending reflects improved financing conditions and stronger economic activity — provisional real GDP growth reached 6.0% in 2025 — the Bank of Ghana has cautioned that the credit-to-GDP gap remains negative, indicating that private-sector lending is still below its long-term trend. The concentration of secured lending in a few large sectors and the continued dominance of foreign-controlled banks also point to structural features of the credit market that may take longer to shift.
For now, the second-quarter data paint a picture of a credit market in recovery, with lower borrowing costs, stronger capital positions, and a collateral framework that continues to widen access to finance for borrowers across the economy.
