President John Mahama says government has stopped crowding businesses out of the credit market, citing lower interest rates, during a visit to drinks maker Kasapreko reported on 9 October 2026.
Speaking at the Ghana Stock Exchange-listed company’s production facility, Mahama said heavy state borrowing had previously soaked up bank credit. He said that left little for private firms and pushed the interest rates they were charged to excessive levels.
“We are exercising fiscal discipline, making sure government lives within its means,” he said. He added that the aim was to create room for the private sector to grow.
The claim matters because the cost of credit decides whether manufacturers like Kasapreko can expand and hire. Official data show borrowing costs have fallen sharply, though not as far as some of the President’s examples suggest.
Mahama said commercial lending rates had dropped from highs of around 32 per cent, and that some businesses were now borrowing at rates as low as nine per cent. Bank of Ghana data put the average lending rate at 15.9 per cent in August 2026, down from 24.2 per cent a year earlier. The World Bank’s latest Ghana Economic Update said average lending rates fell from about 27 per cent in June 2025 to 15.6 per cent in June 2026. Rates still vary widely between banks and borrowers, with some lenders charging up to 30 per cent.
The decline followed deep cuts by the Bank of Ghana, which lowered its policy rate from 28 per cent in April 2025 to 14 per cent by March 2026. It has held the rate there since, most recently on 24 September, as inflation edged up to 5.2 per cent in September.
The President also pointed to a surge in foreign direct investment, which he said rose from $624 million in 2024 to $2.62 billion in 2025. The Ghana Investment Promotion Authority’s 2025 report confirms the $2.62 billion figure. However, Bank of Ghana data show that 95.4 per cent of net inflows on a balance of payments basis came from reinvested earnings of firms already operating in Ghana, not new money.
Mahama urged Ghanaian entrepreneurs to follow foreign investors and expand, and praised Kasapreko’s growth into export markets.
