Data from the Bank of Ghana shows that repayment challenges associated with COVID-19 were paramount last year, with the NPL ratio in the banking sector increasing from 15.5 percent in August 2020 to 17.3 percent in August 2021.

When looked at by sector, the construction sector performed worst, with NPLs for the sector increasing by 13.6 percentage points to 35 percent during the review period.

Patrick Ebo Bonful is the President of the Ghana Real Estate Developers’ Association (GREDA) and he believes stakeholders need to get together to deal with the issues related to mortgages in the country.

“When we build the houses, we use loans and other types of finances. We invest in acquiring land banks, and yet we can’t sell the houses, and this is what causes the issue of unpaid loans in our sector. So the issue has to do with the lack of a mortgage, a mortgage that can serve the purpose. The tenures of the mortgages given here in this country are too short.”

“We are hoping to get mortgages with tenures as high as 15 years, 20 years, and 25 years. When the tenures are long, it means the monthly payments will be bearable and affordable for most people. So we need to have a serious conversation on the way forward with mortgages once and for all,” he added.