The Bank of Ghana (BoG) is transforming Ghana’s rural banking sector to improve access to credit for traders, artisans, start-ups and other informal businesses that remain excluded from formal financing despite living close to bank branches.

Speaking at the 50th anniversary of rural banking in Ghana on July 16, 2026, the Bank of Ghana Governor, Dr Johnson Asiama, said financial inclusion should go beyond physical access to banking services and focus on ensuring individuals and businesses can obtain financing to grow.

“There are households in Accra right here that can see a bank tower from their front door, they can see a bank tower, but they have never had a loan from it. But access is not the same as service and when national policy opens a financing window or eases a pressure or supports a sector, the benefit too often stops at the doors of the largest institution,” he mentioned

He noted that while mobile money and digital financial services have significantly expanded financial access, many traders, artisans and young entrepreneurs still struggle to secure loans, even in major urban centres.

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To address the financing gap, the central bank is expanding the mandate of community banking institutions, allowing them to be established wherever underserved businesses exist, whether in rural or urban communities.

“So we are creating the room for community banks to be established wherever, wherever they are needed, rural or urban, which is why you should not be surprised when you meet the East Lagoon Community Bank or the Cantonment Community Bank, or better still, the Airport Hills Community Bank. And before anyone asks, no, East Lagoon is not short of bank branches,” he said

“It is short of banks, banks that will lend to the woman who trades there, right there, or the artisan, the carpenter who works right there, and of course the young business that has just opened its doors right there," he added.

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The reforms form part of the Bank of Ghana’s efforts to shift financial inclusion beyond opening bank accounts to expanding access to productive credit for small businesses and the informal sector, with the aim of supporting entrepreneurship, job creation and local economic development.

DR/SA