Ghana’s credit market witnessed an extraordinary expansion in 2025 as banks led a remarkable increase in secured lending, pushing the total value of loans backed by collateral to an unprecedented GH¢148.3 billion.
The latest figures from the Bank of Ghana reveal that the country experienced a significant rise in collateral registrations, secured loan values, and collateral asset volumes, highlighting growing confidence among lenders and borrowers despite prevailing economic challenges.
The impressive performance underscores the increasing importance of the Collateral Registry in supporting access to finance and strengthening Ghana’s financial sector.
Secured lending reaches historic heights
According to the Bank of Ghana’s latest report, the total value of secured loans granted in 2025 climbed to GH¢148.3 billion, representing a dramatic increase from GH¢60.9 billion recorded in 2024.
The figures indicate that secured lending more than doubled within a year, reflecting stronger lending activities across the banking and non-bank financial sectors.
Banks remained the dominant force behind this expansion, accounting for GH¢94.5 billion of the total secured loans granted during the year. Their substantial contribution highlights the growing appetite of commercial banks to extend credit backed by registered collateral.
The surge also points to increasing confidence in Ghana’s secured transactions framework, which provides lenders with greater protection while enabling businesses and individuals to unlock financing using movable assets.
Collateral registrations surge by nearly 27 percent
One of the strongest indicators of the booming credit market was the sharp rise in security interest registrations.
The Bank of Ghana disclosed that a total of 484,059 security interests were registered in 2025, compared to 382,215 registrations in 2024.
This represents a robust year-on-year growth of 26.7 percent, making it one of the strongest annual performances recorded by the Collateral Registry in recent years.
The sharp increase demonstrates that more businesses, entrepreneurs and financial institutions are embracing secured lending arrangements as an effective means of expanding access to credit.
Industry observers believe the growing use of registered collateral is improving lending confidence while reducing risks associated with unsecured borrowing.
Commerce and finance dominate lending activity
The sectoral breakdown of secured lending paints a clear picture of where credit demand was strongest.
The Commerce and Finance sector overwhelmingly dominated secured lending activity in 2025, accounting for 88.9 percent of the total value of secured loans.
This highlights the sector’s central role in driving economic activity, supporting trade, business expansion and working capital requirements across the country.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing followed with 4 percent of total secured lending, while the Services sector accounted for 3 percent.
Although agriculture received a relatively smaller share of secured financing, analysts believe there remains significant room for growth as financial institutions continue to develop innovative lending products tailored to farmers and agribusinesses.
More collateral assets enter the registry
The strong lending performance was accompanied by significant growth in collateral assets registered during the year.
According to the report, registered collateral assets increased by 21.7 percent to reach 584,000 in 2025 from 479,707 in 2024.
Cash collateral continued to dominate as the preferred security accepted by lenders.
Inventories and stock of goods ranked as the second most common collateral type, followed by company and business assets.
The continued preference for cash collateral reflects lenders’ efforts to minimise credit risks while ensuring quick recovery in the event of loan defaults.
However, the increasing acceptance of inventories and business assets also signals broader recognition of movable assets as valuable sources of credit security.
Search volumes continue rising
Activity within the Collateral Registry extended beyond registrations alone.
The report shows that 72,901 searches were conducted during 2025, compared to 65,267 searches in 2024.
This represents an increase of 11.7 percent in search volumes.
Collateral searches are an important component of Ghana’s secured transactions system because they allow lenders to verify whether assets have already been pledged as security before approving new loans.
The growing number of searches reflects heightened due diligence by financial institutions as lending activities continue to expand.
Savings and loans companies remain highly active
While banks dominated the value of secured loans granted, Savings and Loans Companies recorded the highest volumes of registrations, searches and discharges within the Collateral Registry.
Their strong participation demonstrates their critical role in extending credit to small businesses, entrepreneurs and individual borrowers who may not always qualify for traditional commercial bank financing.
Their continued activity also reinforces the importance of specialised financial institutions in promoting financial inclusion across Ghana.
Fewer no objection certificates issued
Despite the impressive growth recorded across most indicators, one area experienced a notable decline.
The Collateral Registry issued 200 Memoranda of No Objection certificates during 2025, compared to 301 certificates issued in 2024.
This represents a decrease of 33.6 percent.
These certificates assist in the realisation of security interests in collateral when lenders seek to enforce their rights over pledged assets.
The decline may indicate fewer cases requiring enforcement actions or changes in recovery processes adopted by lenders.
Mixed trends in collateral discharges
The report also highlighted developments relating to discharged registrations.
In 2025, the number of registrations discharged stood at 105,029. Savings and Loans Companies accounted for a significant share of these discharge activities, further underscoring their active involvement in Ghana’s secured lending ecosystem.
The discharge of collateral registrations typically reflects the repayment of loans or the release of pledged assets after financial obligations have been fulfilled.
Strong outlook for Ghana’s credit market
The latest figures from the Bank of Ghana point to a financial sector experiencing renewed momentum as confidence in secured lending continues to strengthen.
Record loan values, rising collateral registrations and increasing collateral assets all suggest that lenders are becoming more willing to finance businesses and individuals using registered movable assets as security.
As access to credit improves and the secured transactions framework continues to mature, Ghana’s Collateral Registry is expected to remain a vital pillar supporting private sector growth, investment and economic expansion in the years ahead.
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