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Dept Recovery

with No Comment Sectors Covered

Through Strategic Debt Solutions Ltd, we address a critical component of financial ecosystem health. Our professional debt management and recovery services are designed to strengthen business performance for our partner institutions by converting distressed assets into recovered capital. This process is essential for improving liquidity and safeguarding the revenue streams that underpin sustainable operations.

Our approach is built on professionalism, legal compliance, and ethical engagement. We employ strategic methodologies that balance firmness in recovery with fairness to debtors, aiming to restore mutually beneficial financial relationships wherever possible. This not only resolves immediate cash flow challenges but also helps preserve long-term customer value and institutional reputation.

Ultimately, our role is to be a stabilizing force. By efficiently managing and recovering outstanding debts, Strategic Debt Solutions Ltd helps restore financial stability to institutions, thereby strengthening their balance sheets and enhancing their capacity to lend and invest anew. This vital function reinforces the resilience of the entire financial sector, ensuring capital continues to flow productively through the economy.

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Debt Recovery

with No Comment Sectors Covered

Through Strategic Debt Solutions Ltd, we address a critical component of financial ecosystem health. Our professional debt management and recovery services are designed to strengthen business performance for our partner institutions by converting distressed assets into recovered capital. This process is essential for improving liquidity and safeguarding the revenue streams that underpin sustainable operations.

Our approach is built on professionalism, legal compliance, and ethical engagement. We employ strategic methodologies that balance firmness in recovery with fairness to debtors, aiming to restore mutually beneficial financial relationships wherever possible. This not only resolves immediate cash flow challenges but also helps preserve long-term customer value and institutional reputation.

Ultimately, our role is to be a stabilizing force. By efficiently managing and recovering outstanding debts, Strategic Debt Solutions Ltd helps restore financial stability to institutions, thereby strengthening their balance sheets and enhancing their capacity to lend and invest anew. This vital function reinforces the resilience of the entire financial sector, ensuring capital continues to flow productively through the economy.

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Brokerage Services

with No Comment Sectors Covered

Through Merban Stockbrokers, we provide a critical link between investors and the capital markets, offering a gateway to wealth creation and broader economic participation. Our brokerage services are built on a foundation of reliability and precision, ensuring clients have access to efficient and secure trade execution across various asset classes. This core function is essential for fostering a dynamic and liquid market environment.

Our commitment extends beyond mere transaction execution. We empower our clients with strategic investment insights, market analysis, and tailored advice designed to inform sound financial decision-making. By demystifying the complexities of the market, we help both seasoned and new investors navigate opportunities with greater confidence and clarity.

Ultimately, our mission is to build trust and expand access. Merban Stockbrokers plays a vital role in democratizing market participation, supporting individual wealth creation goals, and contributing to the overall depth and resilience of Ghana’s financial ecosystem. We connect ambition with opportunity, facilitating growth for our clients and the market as a whole.

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Fintech & Enterprise Solutions

with No Comment Sectors Covered

Through Bsystems Technology Ltd, we power the digital backbone of the modern financial sector. As our dedicated fintech and enterprise solutions arm, the company delivers cutting-edge technology platforms and integrated systems that enable financial institutions to achieve new levels of operational efficiency, security, and automation. These solutions are designed to streamline complex processes, reduce costs, and provide the robust infrastructure needed for scalable growth.

Beyond operational excellence, our focus is on driving innovation that directly enhances the customer experience. Bsystems develops and implements tailored fintech solutions that help our portfolio companies and clients offer more accessible, intuitive, and responsive financial services. By bridging advanced technology with core financial operations, we are not just modernizing systems—we are actively shaping a more agile, inclusive, and resilient financial future for Ghana.

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Pensions Administration

with No Comment Sectors Covered

Pensions administration is a critical pillar of societal trust and long-term financial security. At Pensions Alliance Trust Ltd, part of The Finance Group Ltd, we are entrusted with the vital responsibility of safeguarding the retirement futures of Ghanaian workers. Our approach is built on a foundation of transparency, operational excellence, and rigorous governance, ensuring every process from contribution collection to benefit payment is secure and efficient.

We go beyond mere administration by focusing on strategic fund management. Our expert team employs prudent investment strategies aimed at generating dependable, sustainable returns for our contributors. This performance-oriented mindset ensures that retirement savings are not just preserved, but actively grown over time.

Ultimately, our mission is to provide individuals and institutions with absolute confidence in their retirement planning. By managing pension funds with integrity and foresight, we empower workers to build a solid financial foundation, contributing to a more stable and prosperous economic future for all Ghanaians.

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Fund Management & Corporate Finance

with No Comment Sectors Covered

The Fund Management & Corporate Finance sector provides professional asset management, investment advisory, and capital-raising solutions designed to help clients grow, protect, and optimize their financial resources. By leveraging disciplined investment strategies, market research, and risk-management frameworks, the sector ensures that individuals, institutions, and businesses achieve sustainable long-term value. Core services include portfolio management, investment planning, wealth structuring, and performance monitoring—each tailored to meet the unique financial goals of diverse client segments.

On the corporate finance side, the sector supports organizations with strategic financial advisory, mergers and acquisitions, business valuations, and capital restructuring. It also facilitates debt and equity financing to enable business expansion, operational strengthening, and improved balance-sheet stability. Through a combination of innovation, financial expertise, and governance excellence, the sector plays a vital role in helping companies access capital, optimize financial strategies, and enhance overall competitiveness in the marketplace.

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Commercial Banking

with No Comment Sectors Covered

Universal Merchant Bank operates within the Commercial Banking sector, providing comprehensive financial services that drive economic activity and expand access to banking across Ghana. The bank delivers a full suite of solutions—including deposits, payments, digital banking, trade finance, and credit facilities—designed to meet the needs of individuals, SMEs, and large corporations. By offering accessible and reliable banking products, the sector plays a central role in strengthening financial inclusion and supporting everyday financial transactions.

Through structured lending, working-capital financing, treasury services, and customer-focused digital tools, the Commercial Banking sector enables businesses to operate efficiently and grow sustainably. Universal Merchant Bank’s commitment to innovation, risk management, and service excellence ensures that clients receive secure, convenient, and growth-oriented financial solutions that contribute to national development and long-term economic resilience.

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UMB Stockbrokers Rebrands Back to Merban Stockbrokers Limited

with No Comment BrokerageFinance

UMB Stockbrokers Limited has reverted to its original name, Merban Stockbrokers Limited, effective July 1, 2025, according to a press release issued by the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) on Monday, November 25, 2025. The announcement marks the return to a brand identity the firm held before 2014.

The brokerage firm, which operates as a licensed dealing member of the GSE, notified the investing public through official channels including listed dealing members, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Central Securities Depository, and custodians. The name change does not affect the company’s operations, licensing status, or physical address.

This represents a reversal of a previous rebranding. In August 2014, the company changed its name from Merban Stockbrokers Limited to UMB Stockbrokers Limited, as announced in GSE Press Release 249 of that year. The firm has now returned to its original identity after operating under the UMB brand for approximately 11 years.

Merban Stockbrokers was originally established in 1975 and became one of the pioneer dealers on the Ghana Stock Exchange when the bourse commenced operations in 1990. The firm provides brokerage services, equity research, corporate finance advisory, portfolio management, and share valuation services to both individual and institutional clients.

The company holds a broker dealer license from the Securities and Exchange Commission and participates as a securities depository member. Throughout its five decade history, the firm has sponsored several notable initial public offerings and corporate actions for companies listed on the exchange, including transactions for SIC Insurance, GOIL Company Limited, and merger deals for financial institutions.

The announcement comes during a period of strong performance for Ghana’s equities market. As of November 24, 2025, the GSE Composite Index has gained 75.08 percent year to date, while the GSE Financial Stocks Index has surged 85.53 percent over the same period, making Ghana’s bourse one of Africa’s top performing markets in 2025.

The brokerage firm currently serves over 12,000 clients ranging from high net worth individuals and institutional investors to pension funds, insurance companies, and retail traders. Its parent organization, UMB Capital, operates multiple subsidiaries including Merban Properties Limited and Strategic Debt Solutions Limited, formerly known as Merban Asset Recovery Trust.

Company officials have not publicly stated reasons for returning to the Merban brand name. The firm continues to operate from its existing location in Accra and maintains all current service offerings and client relationships under the new legal name.

Trading activity on the Ghana Stock Exchange continues with no disruption expected from the name change. The exchange has distributed the notification to all relevant market participants and regulatory bodies to ensure seamless recognition of the company under its reverted identity.

colateral

Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe launches Bsystem Ghana’s Collateral Registry System to boost economic growth

with No Comment FintechInvestor Relations

Zimbabwe’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), has officially launched its newly established online Collateral Registry System developed by the leading Ghanaian software company, Bsystems.

The live activation of the Collateral Registry System by the central bank of Zimbabwe forms part of the bank’s move to improve the ease of doing business in the country through disclosing information by borrowers/debtors aimed at encouraging micro-credit growth and enhanced credit risk management in the microfinance sector.

This is also under Zimbabwe’s Movable Property Security Interest Act 2020 (Chapter 14:35), which specifies that the Registry facilitates commerce, industry, and other socio-economic activities by enabling individuals and businesses to utilize their movable property as collateral for credit.

Speaking during the launch in Harare on Friday at a brief ceremony, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Dr. John Mangudya, noted that the establishment of the Collateral Registry is in response to the Zimbabwe Banking and Financial sector to support economic growth and development as enshrined in the nation’s development strategy number one which is also in line with the vision of the upper and middle-income countries by the year 2030.

“Going forward, there is the need to intensify the awareness campaigns to reach out to various stakeholders in the country to conscientize the public about this good news of collateral registry established here in Zimbabwe in terms of the law of this country,” he said.

Governor Dr. Mangudya expressed the central bank’s appreciation to software system supplier, Bsystems from Ghana for developing a Collateral Registry System to the bank’s expectations.

“We look forward to continuing support during the implementation stage of our collective efforts to improve our credit infrastructure,” he added.

In his remark, the Chief Executive Officer of Bsystems Limited, Thomas Baafi, said Bsystems has, over the years, blazed the trail of developing top-notch cutting-edge IT-based business solutions, including the Electronic ID Verification, Smart HR and Payroll, and PeoplePay, a mobile payment platform.

According to him, introducing the collateral registry through a digital platform will allow many Zimbabweans to access its services in real time using their phones or computers.

Mr. Baafi then lauded officials of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) for their immense support in getting the online Registry to go live.

The Registry is an online public database that allows financial institutions to register security interests in movable property and mitigate the risk to customers. With the introduction of the collateral registry, banks should be able to diversify their credit portfolio from mostly corporates to include small and medium enterprises.

A web-based system offers remote access beyond regular business hours without visiting the registry office. With this system in place, officials of the Registry are free from operations that involve paperwork, manual reviews, and searches. Storage costs are also significantly reduced.

The online Registry facilitates the electronic registration of information on movable collaterals submitted through registration forms; it entails rules for creating a security interest, practical procedures, and protection in case of default, including enforcement and repossession. The system allows lending institutions and the general public to conduct searches on registered notices, collaterals, and other ancillary functions.

The Bsystems Collateral Registry System software solution has been adopted by the Central Banks and Registrar General’s Department of nine other African countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Malawi, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Mozambique. The rollout of the collateral registry software solution in Zimbabwe brings to ten (10) the number of African countries that are currently enjoying the benefits of the Bsystems Collateral Registry System.

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African Fintech Funding Rebounds Strongly in Q2 2025

with No Comment Fintech

Africa’s fintech sector secured $157 million in equity investments during the second quarter of 2025, marking a dramatic recovery and underscoring renewed investor confidence in the continent’s digital finance landscape.

According to CB Insights’ Q2 2025 State of Fintech report, this represents a 348.5% year-on-year surge from the $35 million raised in Q2 2024 and positions the quarter as the second-highest for funding in nearly two years.

The robust performance reflects a 33% quarter-on-quarter increase from Q1 2025’s $118 million and an 11.3% rise over Q4 2024. A total of 23 deals drove the momentum, signaling strengthened interest in early- and growth-stage fintech ventures across Africa. Analysts attribute the rebound to sustained focus on digital payments, embedded finance solutions, and technologies advancing financial inclusion.

With $275 million raised in the first half of 2025, African fintech is poised to surpass 2024’s full-year totals despite global market uncertainties. The report highlights the sector’s dual role as an engine for local innovation and a significant contributor to worldwide fintech expansion. The Q2 resurgence sets an optimistic trajectory for the remainder of the year, cementing Africa’s status as an emerging hub for financial technology investment.

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IFC Announces New Landmark Investments to Support Smaller Businesses and Advance Job Creation at 2025 Africa Financial Summit

with One Comment Investor Relations

Casablanca, Morocco, November 4, 2025 — IFC has announced investments totaling $310 million in projects that will support the growth of smaller businesses and job creation across several African countries. The projects were announced at the Africa Financial Summit (AFIS), which convened private and public sector representatives from across Africa under the theme of mobilizing domestic capital at scale for development.

The two-day event, co-hosted by IFC, the Jeune Afrique Media Group, and the Kingdom of Morocco, featured discussions among African central bank governors, regulators, financial institutions, and fintech innovators on how Africa can best tap its own resources—and attract more foreign investment—to shape the continent’s financial future, create jobs, and sustainably grow its economies.

On the sidelines of AFIS, IFC announced partnerships with several financial institutions that will channel funds and support towards businesses in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Morocco, helping businesses grow and reach new markets.

The new projects IFC announced are:

· A $50 million financing package to Suez Canal Bank will expand lending to smaller businesses across Egypt, particularly in underserved regions. A quarter of the loan is earmarked for women-owned businesses to help bridge the gender financing gap and boost inclusive growth.

· A $10 million equivalent IFC local-currency risk-sharing facility with Attijariwafa Bank Egypt to expand access to finance for smaller businesses and support job creation. At least a quarter of the loans are earmarked for women-owned businesses, and half to SMEs in vulnerable communities. The initiative is supported by the Prospects Partnership, which supports development for host communities and forcibly displaced people.

· A $250 million IFC risk-sharing facility with newly established Saham Bank will strengthen Morocco’s financial stability and expand access to finance for local businesses. IFC will share up to 50 percent of the credit risk on the bank’s $500 million corporate loan portfolio, helping sustain lending to key sectors. Saham Bank recently acquired Société Générale Marocaine de Banques.

· An IFC advisory services support program for VisionFund to help the microfinancier expand lending to smaller businesses and deepen financial inclusion in Ethiopia. The project will strengthen VisionFund’s capacity in strategic business planning, risk management, and responsible finance, enabling it to reach more underserved entrepreneurs—especially women. This initiative follows IFC’s recent $10 million local currency loan to VisionFund.

Ethiopis Tafara, IFC’s Vice President for Africa, said, “The combination of Africa’s own financial resources with strategic international capital is a potent recipe for growth on the continent. Africa’s entrepreneurs are building companies that rival any in the world—and with the right support, they can grow and create the jobs and opportunities Africa needs. These projects underscore the power of partnerships as well as the important role of events like AFIS in bringing together like-minded organizations for development and impact.”

AFIS was established in 2021 to promote a shared understanding among public authorities and private sector leaders of the trends and risks shaping the continent’s financial industry. Through open dialogue and collaboration, AFIS helps identify opportunities for improvement, whether through regulatory reforms or market-driven initiatives.

This year’s event brought together more than 1,250 senior leaders from Africa’s financial sector—including those who manage Africa’s savings with those who can channel international investment—with the aim of delivering more funds to job-creating African businesses and projects.

Over the past two decades, IFC has collaborated with more than 300 financial institutions across 40 African countries to enhance banking systems, expand access to finance, and mobilize private capital. This partnership has helped build the foundations for opportunity—fueling enterprise, enabling jobs, and driving the continent’s next generation of growth.

About IFC

IFC — a member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2025, IFC committed a record $71.7 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging private sector solutions and mobilizing private capital to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.