2025 ORC Week celebration launched in Accra

The Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) has launched its 2025 ORC Week celebration with a strong call for compliance with the Companies Act and renewed efforts to address risks affecting the operations and sustainability of business entities in the country.

The week celebration will be held on the theme “Resetting the Business Environment – The Role of Enterprise Risk Management.”

According to the Acting Registrar of Companies, Ms Maame Saame Peprah, the theme was to highlight the importance of risk management in business operations as well as the importance of filing annual returns and maintaining proper financial records.

Speaking at the opening of the week-long programme in Accra on Monday, the Acting Registrar said the event was aimed at sensitising the public on the mandate of the ORC and introducing reforms to make business registration and compliance more efficient.

The ORC, she explained, was mandated to register various business entities, including sole proprietorships, partnerships, companies limited by shares and by guarantee, as well as professional bodies whiles it oversees compliance with the Companies Act, facilitates the winding up of companies, and, where possible, supports their restructuring.

Ms Peprah noted that many companies overlooked compliance obligations such as filing annual returns and maintaining proper financial records, creating significant operational and financial risks.

“Most of our financial challenges stem from failure to meet compliance requirements,” she stressed. “If you keep your books in order and file your annual returns, you will be better positioned to identify and address potential issues before they escalate.”

As part of the week’s activities, the ORC is holding a series of public-facing programmes, starting with a “registration clinic” to assist individuals and businesses with enquiries, resolve registration challenges, and register entities on the spot provided they have the necessary documentation.

Also, she noted that a stakeholder symposium would be held to provide a platform for discussions on risk management and reform priorities in Ghana’s business environment, while on Wednesday, the company embark on a float through marketplaces and business centres to reach entrepreneurs who may not have been able to attend the earlier sessions and the rest of the week would focus on internal capacity building to enhance service delivery.

Ms Peprah assured the public that the ORC was committed to implementing reforms that would make its services faster and more accessible which included the operationalisation of a centre capable of delivering services within 24 to 48 hours, the establishment of a call centre to reduce congestion at ORC offices, and a new digital system that would enable business register in the comfort of their homes.

“We are already at the testing stage of our system to make it possible for clients to register from the comfort of their homes,” she said, adding that the office hoped to roll out these innovations by the end of the year.

Demonstrating the ORC’s efficiency, she presented a sample certificate issued within a few hours of application, reaffirming the office’s commitment to same-day delivery where possible.