Amid the growing concerns about the funding sources of Ghana’s booming real estate sector, renowned Ghanaian business magnate and Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Dr. Sam Jonah, has waded into the debate, questioning the emptiness of these high-rise luxurious apartments.
Dr. Sir Sam Jonah says he is privy to the situation where in the heart of Accra’s most prized neighborhoods, Airport Residential, Cantonments, and Labone, with a high-rise skyline of apartments, many of these buildings are empty.
The business mogul says the emptiness of these high-end apartments raises serious concerns about the financing of Accra’s booming real estate sector.
In his view, the surge in luxury developments, many of which remain unoccupied, is an indication that they may be fueled by unclean or illicit funds. He explains that the real estate sector, in most parts of the world, is funded through bank loans, and hence, there is pressure from banks to recoup their loans to developers.
But he cannot fathom why, despite the emptiness of these buildings, banks have not made any effort to move in or confiscate these buildings to recoup their investments.
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In his view, the idleness of these expensive apartments and no effort from the banks suggest that these buildings were not funded through honest means.
“If you walk around my area, Airport Residential, Cantonments, or Labone , look at all the high-rise buildings going up. Everywhere in the world, developers go to the bank to take loans for those developments. Some of these apartments are all empty. Do you think that if money were collected from banks, banks would not have moved in? What I’m saying is that they are being funded through sources which are not honest,” Sir Sam Jonah said in an interview monitored by The High Street Journal
His comments are shedding light on a growing suspicion within Ghana’s that parts of the real estate boom may be serving as a convenient front for money laundering and other questionable transactions.
In his view, the financial sector in the country is not that strong and developed to provide such patient capital. This is a hint that the lack of urgency to recover investments suggests the money may not have been obtained through legitimate means.
“Go around and ask, ‘Why are the apartments empty?’ If you had gone to the bank to borrow money to build, you would ensure that those apartments are fully occupied. Ghanaian banks are not that well, and their balance sheets are not strong enough to give you patient capital. The interest rates are just astronomical. You can hardly make it as a developer,” he suggested.
This insight of the renowned business executive is expected to reignite a deep investigation into the sector to uncover any illegal business practices. It is also calling for stronger financial oversight and transparency within the sector, which many analysts say remains one of the most opaque industries in the country.
If the concerns raised by Dr. Jonah are left unchecked, experts say Ghana risks creating a distorted economy where ill-gotten wealth hides behind concrete and glass, enriching a few while deepening inequality.
