By Eugene Davis
Ghanaian businesses are missing out on an expanding pool of long-term investment capital because too few are prepared to meet the governance, reporting and structural requirements of public markets, according to PwC Ghana.
Daniel Desmond Koomson, Senior Manager in Deals at PwC Ghana, said one of the biggest barriers preventing businesses from considering initial public offerings (IPOs) was perception rather than a lack of opportunity in the capital market.
He said many founders still viewed an IPO mainly as a way of raising capital, when the more significant benefit could be the transformation a business undergoes in preparing for a listing.
“Many founders view an IPO primarily as a capital-raising event. What emerged from our discussion is that the more important benefit is often the transformation that takes place before the listing,” Mr Koomson said.
“The readiness journey compels businesses to strengthen governance, improve reporting, build management depth, formalise succession plans and establish the structures required to create value over generations.”
His comments came during PwC Ghana’s webinar, *The Path to Public: Preparing Ghanaian Businesses for Growth Through the Capital Market*, which brought together regulators, institutional investors, market operators and corporate finance professionals to examine how Ghanaian companies can use public markets to support sustainable growth.
The webinar forms part of PwC Ghana’s broader thought-leadership initiative, *Unlocking Patient Capital: Preparing Ghanaian Businesses for Growth through the Capital Market*, aimed at increasing awareness of the role of capital markets in business transformation, long-term value creation and economic growth.
Capital available, but pipeline thin
A central theme of the discussion was that Ghana’s challenge is increasingly less about the availability of capital and more about the supply of businesses capable of absorbing it.
Recent market performance has highlighted growing investor appetite for credible investment opportunities.
The Ghana Stock Exchange recorded a 137.4% return in US dollar terms in 2025, while market capitalisation increased to about GH¢172bn. Recent public offerings have also attracted substantial investor interest.
Zen Petroleum raised GH¢640m through a fully subscribed offer, while Kasapreko’s initial public offering attracted GH¢1.73bn in subscriptions against a target of GH¢700m, representing an oversubscription of 146%.
At the same time, Ghana’s pension industry has continued to expand, with total pension assets reaching GH¢111.1bn in 2025. This represents a significant pool of long-term domestic capital that could potentially be channelled into productive private-sector investments.
Kingsford Arthur, Financial Services Leader at PwC Ghana, said the development had created an important mismatch between the availability of capital and the number of businesses sufficiently prepared to access it.
“The conversation in Ghana has traditionally been framed around businesses searching for capital. Increasingly, however, we should also be asking whether enough IPO-ready businesses exist to absorb the growing pool of patient capital available in the market,” he said.
“The evidence suggests that investor appetite is strong, but the pipeline of market-ready businesses remains relatively thin.”
Beyond raising capital
The discussion reframed an IPO from being simply a fundraising exercise to a process of institutionalising a business.
For many founder-led companies, preparing for a listing can require significant changes in financial reporting, corporate governance, management structures, succession planning and disclosure practices.
That process can make businesses more transparent and accountable while giving investors greater visibility into their operations and financial performance.
Mr Koomson said companies should therefore begin preparing for the public market well before they require additional funding.
“The question is not whether a business needs capital today. The question is whether it is doing the work today to ensure it can access capital tomorrow,” he said.
“The companies that successfully access public markets are typically those that begin preparing years before they need funding.”
Ownership concerns
The webinar also sought to challenge perceptions that going public necessarily means founders must surrender control of their businesses.
Participants noted that most IPOs involve the sale of minority interests, allowing founders and existing shareholders to retain significant ownership while bringing in new capital and institutional investors.
Recent listings, they argued, demonstrate that businesses can use the public market to finance expansion while simultaneously strengthening their institutional structures.
The implications extend beyond individual companies.
Mr Arthur said a deeper pipeline of listed businesses could contribute to stronger corporate governance, greater transparency, improved investor confidence and increased competitiveness across the private sector.
“When more companies access public markets, the impact extends beyond capital raising. We see stronger corporate governance, greater transparency, enhanced competitiveness, improved investor confidence and ultimately stronger economic growth,” he said.
“Public markets help transform founder-led businesses into enduring institutions capable of competing regionally and attracting long-term investment.”
Supporting expansion and AfCFTA
Speakers also highlighted the potential role of patient capital in financing investments that may be difficult to support through conventional bank lending.
These include technology adoption, regional expansion, research and development, modern production facilities and other long-term projects where returns may take several years to materialise.
A deeper domestic capital market could also strengthen Ghanaian companies’ ability to scale for opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), particularly as businesses seek to expand beyond the domestic market.
Access to long-term equity capital can provide companies with greater room to invest in capacity, systems and regional expansion without relying exclusively on short-term or foreign-currency debt.
The broader economic impact, therefore, lies not only in increasing the number of companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange, but in creating a stronger pipeline of formally structured, transparent and scalable Ghanaian businesses capable of attracting domestic and international investment.
Building the IPO pipeline
The webinar featured contributions from Joyce Esi Boakye of the Ghana Stock Exchange, Dr Jacob Aidoo of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ken Alorzuke of SSNIT and Mr Koomson of PwC Ghana.
They shared perspectives on listing requirements, investor expectations, market opportunities and the IPO-readiness journey.
The discussion suggests that unlocking Ghana’s growing pool of patient capital will require action on both sides of the market: investors need credible opportunities, while businesses need to build the governance, reporting and management structures that make them investable.
For Ghana’s private sector, the message is increasingly one of preparation — companies may need to become investment-ready before they become capital-hungry.
