The Ghana Association of Banks (GAB) has called for a stronger credit system that allows banks to price borrowers based on their credit history rather than applying similar lending conditions to customers with different repayment records.
GAB President John Awuah made the call during a roundtable discussion at the Chartered Institute of Bankers Ghana (CIB Ghana) Post-MPC Policy Seminar, which was followed by The High Street Journal.
Awuah said Ghana needs to strengthen its credit architecture so that lenders can better distinguish between borrowers based on their previous credit performance.
“We should not put them in one basket and give them a certain rate,” he said. “But by their previous credit score, we should be able to differentiate what kind of credit they can have access to.”
He said a stronger credit system would allow banks to assess borrowers more accurately and potentially offer better terms to customers with stronger repayment records.
Awuah also cautioned against interpreting the decline in the banking sector’s non-performing loan (NPL) ratio as evidence that credit performance has necessarily improved.
He explained that the ratio could fall simply because the total loan book had grown faster than the stock of non-performing loans.
“If you had the same non-performing stock of maybe 10 million… but the denominator has grown from 1 billion to 1.2 billion, automatically, your ratio comes down,” he said.
“It does not mean the credit performance has improved.”
According to recent banking sector data, Ghana’s NPL ratio had fallen to 15.7% by August 2026 from 20.8% a year earlier.
Awuah said the focus should therefore be on improving the underlying credit performance and repayment culture, rather than relying solely on movements in the NPL ratio.
He pointed to the need for a broader credit architecture that captures more information about borrowers and gives lenders a clearer picture of their ability and willingness to repay.
“We need to work together as a country to improve the credit architecture,” he said.
He argued that stronger credit information would also help banks differentiate between borrowers and avoid treating customers with different credit profiles in the same way.
Awuah said this would be particularly important as Ghana seeks to expand lending to businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises, while managing the risks associated with loan defaults.
The GAB President said the consequences of default in more developed credit markets help encourage borrowers to meet their obligations, adding that Ghana needs systems that create similar incentives for responsible repayment.
“But the consequences of not paying your debt is what pushes them to pay,” he said.
