The Chief Economist at the Development Bank Ghana (DBG), Prof. Eric Osei-Assibey, has highlighted the critical need to mitigate risks in Ghana’s agricultural sector to enhance access to affordable financing for agribusinesses.
Speaking at the 2025 Citi Business Forum, he emphasised that the sector’s high-risk profile deters financial institutions from providing cheap credit.
According to Prof. Osei-Assibey, agriculture’s contribution to non-performing loans (NPLs) in Ghana remains alarmingly high, standing at 38% in 2024, down from 52% in 2023. This elevated risk leads banks to impose hefty risk premiums, resulting in exorbitant interest rates for farmers and agribusinesses.
To address this challenge, he advocated a comprehensive approach to derisk the agricultural value chain, from production to distribution. “If we can reduce the risk, the pricing will follow suit,” he stressed. “But with high risk comes high interest rates, making credit inaccessible to many.”
By mitigating risks and making the sector more attractive to lenders, Ghana can unlock greater investment in agriculture and drive economic growth.
