The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has outlined the strategic goals that a Non-Interest Banking (NIB) ecosystem will contribute to the apex bank’s larger economic development objectives.

These goals and objectives of the central bank was contained in the exposure draft of its guidelines for the regulation and supervision of Non-Interest Banking as released on December 9, 2025.

According to the BoG, “The regulation and supervision of Non-Interest Banking will contribute strategically to the growth of the real sector of the economy, deepen financial inclusion, promote the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals, and create new banking and finance jobs.

“These align with the Bank’s objective of price stability, financial stability and economic development,” the 25-page draft document added in its introductory part.

The document, expected to regulate banks, specialized deposit-taking institutions and development finance institutions, is broken into seven parts with a total of 142 provisions straddling the preliminary provisions, licensing requirements and definitions for NIB institutions and products.

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Other parts provide guidelines on windows and branches establishment; corporate governance architecture; naming and identification of NIB institutions and prudential requirements to regulate the incoming industry.

The exposure draft according to the BoG is to solicit comments and inputs from the banking industry and public, in line with BoG’s procedures for Issuance of Directives, 2020.

The apex bank is receiving inputs via a dedicated email on or before close of day of December 24, 2025.

Industry players and advocacy groups alike have commended the BoG’s release of the draft document highlighting its comprehensiveness, which shows the bank’s readiness to nurture NIB when licenses are finally issued.

A NIB advocacy outfit, the Islamic Finance Research Institute of Ghana (IFRIG), commended the bank for its commitment to the eventual rollout of Non-Interest Banking, emphasizing the lengths the current management of the Bank have gone to ensure a smooth takeoff of NIB.

IFRIG, a leading NIB advocacy institution, has since 2020 held multiple webinars, trainings for government and private-sector players, organized the Islamic Finance Forum and the annual Islamic Finance International Conference (IFIC) as part of its efforts to ensure Ghanaians benefit from NIB.

IFRIG is expected to submit inputs on the exposure draft before the BoG’s deadline for doing so elapses.

The issue of NIB has been topical this year given that it was contained in the government’s 2024 manifesto. Since coming into office, President John Mahama reassured that that promise was going to be vigorously pursued.

The new leadership of the central bank, subsequently named an advisor on NIB in the person of Prof. John Gatsi. The leadership have since met with members of the Christian and Muslim clergy separately and as a unit to solicit support for NIB.

The Bank also held a one-day capacity building workshop in early December for major stakeholders before the release of the guidelines.



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