The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, has called for a united national effort to embed sustainable finance into Ghana’s financial system.
He said the country’s economic future depended on its ability to anticipate emerging risks, attract global investment and build resilience against climate change.
Launching Ghana’s Sustainable Finance Roadmap in Accra on Tuesday, Dr Asiama said sustainable finance was no longer a niche concept but had become central to financial stability, long-term investment and economic resilience, as global investors increasingly prioritised environmentally and socially responsible financial systems.
He noted that while climate change remained one of the biggest drivers of the global shift towards sustainable finance, the agenda extended beyond environmental concerns to creating stronger regulatory systems and unlocking new sources of capital for national development.
“As Ghana strengthens its economic foundations, it is equally important that our financial system is equipped to support resilient and sustainable growth,” he said.
Dr Asiama observed that climate-related events, including recurrent flooding across parts of the country, had demonstrated how environmental risks could quickly become financial risks by affecting asset values, insurance claims and lending portfolios.
He cautioned that ignoring such evolving threats would expose Ghana’s financial sector to significant vulnerabilities, insisting that regulators must adapt supervisory approaches, improve risk pricing and adopt long-term planning to safeguard the economy.
According to him, achieving a truly sustainable financial ecosystem requires stronger collaboration among regulators overseeing banking, insurance, pensions and the capital market, as sustainability risks cut across all sectors of the financial system.
The Governor said the roadmap represented the culmination of nearly a decade of deliberate work by the central bank and its partners.
He recalled that the BoG initiated its sustainability journey in 2015 through a multi-stakeholder committee that later developed Ghana’s Sustainable Banking Principles in 2019, which were voluntarily adopted by all 23 commercial banks to integrate environmental and social considerations into their operations.
Dr Asiama disclosed that compliance with the principles had steadily improved, reaching an industry average of 73 per cent by September 2025, following the introduction of a standardised monitoring framework developed with support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Swiss Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
He said the bank had further strengthened its commitment through the publication of its 2024-2028 Strategic Plan on Sustainability and Climate-Related Risks and the issuance of a Climate-Related Financial Risk Directive to enhance the management of climate-related financial risks within regulated institutions.
Dr Asiama explained that the newly launched roadmap provides, for the first time, a common framework for Ghana’s financial regulators to coordinate their approach to sustainable finance.
Built around three pillars, environmental, social and governance integration, climate-related risk management and financing sustainability—the roadmap outlines practical actions aimed at strengthening risk management while mobilising private and institutional capital for sustainable development.
He emphasised that success would not be measured by the launch itself but by effective implementation.
“Sustainable finance is not only about managing risks. It is also about positioning Ghana to access new pools of global capital, finance critical infrastructure, support the energy transition and strengthen long-term economic growth,” he stated.
Dr Asiama commended the Ministry of Finance, financial sector regulators, professional bodies and development partners, including the IFC, SECO and the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network, for their collaboration in developing the roadmap, urging all stakeholders to sustain the partnership in building a more resilient, competitive and future-ready financial system for Ghana.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
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