Adongo’s BoG Still Doing Business with Databank, Despite Previous Attacks

Databank, the investment firm co-founded by former Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has been added to the list of bond brokers under the second Mahama government.

This was contained in a statement the Bank of Ghana issued in April 2025 announcing the approval of 12 and eight financial institutions as Primary Dealers and Bond Market Specialists respectively. In both cases, Databank was listed.

The statement said, “The Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana, has completed a review of the Primary Dealer system and has approved a revised list of Primary Dealers and Bond Market Specialists.

“The general public is hereby given notice of the new arrangement and advised to be guided accordingly,” the statement, signed by Sandra Thompson, the Secretary, said.

This is happening at a time Ken Ofori-Atta has no control over government machinery, as he is resting in opposition.

The involvement of Ken Ofori-Atta’s Databank in the current government has come at the back of the NDC’s spirited criticisms against the same institution few years ago.

The then government’s explanation that the bank was already doing business before 2017 did not convince the NDC, who trumpeted to the general public that Databank had been selected at the time because Ken Ofori-Atta was a co-founder and the NPP was in power.

It is, however, not known whether Databank has been listed again because of competence and expertise or through the influence of higher authority in the Mahama government.

From 2017, when Ken Ofori-Atta took office as the head of Ghana’s Exchequer, the involvement of Databank as a bond market specialist became topical due to concerns over potential conflicts of interest.

NDC ATTACK

Among others, the NDC claimed that the Akufo-Addo government went on a borrowing spree because of the alleged financial gains to the minister for finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, through Databank.

Isaac Adongo, a member of the board of the Bank of Ghana constituted recently by President Mahama, called for the withdrawal of Databank as Transaction Advisor to the Ministry of Finance and BoG in the issuance of bonds, under the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration.

The Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, who now chairs the finance committee of the current parliament, in 2018, argued that the then finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, put himself in a conflict of interest situation, by selecting Databank as co-advisors in the issuance of government securities.

Isaac Adongo then stated that “It is disgusting to note that Databank, which is the baby of the current finance minister, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, is now a bookrunner at the Bank of Ghana (BoG).”

He continued, “It is instructive to note that the presence of Databank in the Transactions Advisor team puts up the Minister for Finance in a potential conflict of interest situation.”

REBUTTAL

The then-government’s Spokesperson on Governance and Security, Palgrave Boakye-Danquah, reacted in an interview with JoyNews, indicated that singling out Databank as a Transaction Advisor in almost all of Ghana’s loan transactions is an attack on the finance minister, Ken Ofori Attah and the government.

He stated the fact that Databank was not the only bank to have acted as an advisor for a ruling government.

Mr Boakye-Danquah explained that from 2014 through to 2015, when former president John Dramani Mahama was in government, Databank, together with some other banks like ADB and SAS Investment were bond advisors.

ROLE

In 2021, during his vetting for reappointment, Ken Ofori-Atta disclosed that Databank had supported all governments, including the NDC administrations, in financial transactions. He cited instances from the 1990s when Databank assisted the government in securing $25 million to help privatise several state-owned enterprises.

Ofori-Atta emphasised that Databank’s participation in government transactions had always followed competitive bidding processes.

FINANCIAL GAINS

Reports have highlighted the financial benefits Databank accrued during Ofori-Atta’s time as finance minister.

Between 2018 and 2021, Databank reportedly earned approximately $9.2 million from its involvement in Ghana’s domestic and Eurobond borrowing activities.

This included fees from co-managing Eurobond issuances and services related to domestic bond markets.
CURRENT STATUS
As at March 2025 Databank remained listed among the Bank of Ghana’s licensed Primary Dealers and bond market specialists, indicating its ongoing role in the country’s financial sector.

In the April 14, 2025 statement, BoG named the financial institutions approved as Primary Dealers and Bond Market Specialists.

The eight institutions granted additional status of Bond Market Specialist are Stanbic Bank, ABSA Ghana Limited, Databank Brokerage Limited, Black Star Brokerage Limited, CalBank PLC, Ecobank Ghana PLC, Fidelity Bank Ghana and GCB Bank.

 

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