Ghana’s biggest mortgage financing company, Ghana Home Loans (GHL), has been issued with a provisional banking license by the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
The development paves way for Ghana Home Loans to begin operations as a universal bank and also grow the company.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) early this year also granted Ghana Home Loans the approval to establish a Domestic Medium Term Note Programme in a bid to increase the cash flow of the mortgage company.
The programme will allow Ghana Home Loans access 380 million cedis from the domestic market.
It will also enable Ghana Home Loans issue mortgage-backed notes denominated in either dollars or cedis and subsequently list the company on the Ghana Alternative Market.
Ghana Home Loans, was established in 2006 by three Ghanaian promoters and a team of world class financial institutions.
The company as at 2012 had provided financing to over 1,500 households totaling $90m for the acquisition, construction and improvement of homes across Ghana.
Ghana Home Loans will join the growing list of banks in the country.
According to the Bank of Ghana’s financial stability report published in June, 2016 as at March 2016, the banking industry comprised 29 banks, of which fourteen (14) were domestically controlled.
This number is expected to increase to 33 in the coming months following the coming on board of a number of Savings and Loans companies in the banking industry including Union Savings and Loans.