info@businessghana.com
The Deputy Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Dr Justice Srem-Sai, has cautioned that the country risks economic stagnation if we, as a nation, fail to foster trust-based partnerships between individuals with business ideas and those with financial capital.
He explained that many businesses collapsed because of mistrust between investors and entrepreneurs, leading to a disconnect that often undermines innovation, job creation and national growth.
He said this last Wednesday during a keynote address at a stakeholder sensitisation forum on the enhanced legal framework for corporate insolvency in Ghana held in Accra.
“This project is intended to move Ghana from where we are to a place where people who have the ideas can be trusted by the people who have the money, so the money and the ideas can come together and make Ghana a prosperous country,” the Deputy A-G said.
The forum was organised by the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group.
It promoted understanding of the country’s Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring Act (CIRA), designed to protect businesses, creditors and workers.
Participants included legal experts, regulators and corporate leaders, who discussed strategies for sustaining financial stability through responsible business practices.
Dr Srem-Sai explained that the new law established clear administrative procedures for restructuring struggling firms to help them remain viable and ultimately help to secure the nation’s financial stability.
“The Act ensures that creditors are confident their money will not be lost forever, employees retain their jobs, and families stay happy,” he said.
He added that the framework also eliminated unqualified “goro boys” who exploited distressed firms by introducing professional liquidators and insolvency practitioners trained to manage corporate restructuring ethically.
The Act, Dr Srem-Sai further explained, protects creditors’ interests, sets payment priorities, aligns the country’s insolvency procedures with international standards and safeguards foreign investors’ corporate rights.
The Deputy A-G further urged key institutions, including the judiciary, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the ORC, to ensure effective implementation of the law.
He cited poor corporate governance practices, such as failure to file annual returns, as threats to economic integrity.
“We have good ideas; we have good laws. The question is how to implement these laws.
The Act is aware of that. But we here have a duty to make sure that the implementation of these beautiful ideas becomes successful,” Dr Srem-Sai said.
The Chairman of the ORC Governing Board, David Kudoadzi, enumerated the nation’s progress towards a modern and credible insolvency regime anchored on the Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring Act, 2020 (Act 1015).
He mentioned that the new law replaced the liquidation-focused 1963 framework with a recovery-oriented system that prioritises business rescue, job preservation and creditor protection.
The Act introduced professional licensing, creditor committees and cross-border insolvency provisions, aligning Ghana with international best practices.
Mr Kudoadzi stressed the need for greater awareness, especially among SMEs, and called for sustained collaboration among regulators to ensure effective implementation and economic resilience.
The acting Registrar of Companies, Maame Amma Peprah, said the enactment of Act 1015 in 2020 marked a shift from liquidation to restructuring as the preferred approach to managing distressed companies.
The law aligns Ghana’s insolvency standards with global best practices and defines the roles of administrators, liquidators, directors and creditors.
She emphasised that the 2025 Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring Regulations (L.I. 2502) operationalised the Act by ensuring clarity, predictability and consistency in insolvency procedures.
Mrs Peprah added that the framework further promoted early detection of financial distress, stakeholder training, and restructuring over liquidation to protect jobs, preserve businesses and strengthen investor confidence.
