Depositors of 347 collapsed microfinance companies in Ghana will not retrieve their full deposits, here’s why

Receiver of collapsed microfinance companies says depositors will not receive their full deposits.
He said the money from the government for the bailout will not be enough for full payment.
He however said has so far paid about $5.4 million (Gh₵30 million) worth of claims to affected depositors.

With more than 152,000 depositors filling claims above GH¢1.4 billion, he said clearly that there is the possibility that the funds provided by the central government will not be enough.

“It will be a tall order to categorically confirm that every depositor or creditor will receive 100 percent payments. We are where we are today because the company is insolvent to start with. It means that the liabilities of the company exceed the assets of the company,” he said.

Adding that “So, it clearly shows that it is not likely to happen and therefore I am not assuring the depositors base and by extension the creditors that over and above what government has voted, they are going to receive 100 percent when it comes to asset realization. No. I am not giving that assurance or guarantee.”

Mr Nipah who was speaking in an interview with Accra based Citi FM further noted that the receivership processes also requires that some assets are realised from the collapsed firms in order to support the initial GH¢900 million bailout provided by the government.

He, however, noted that he has so far paid about $5.4 million (Gh₵30 million) worth of claims to affected depositors.

“We’ve noted a considerable amount of under-reporting and therefore the integrity of the financial statements that we’ve come across raises a number of issues. A lot of the deposits were under-reported for obvious reasons,” he said.

Adding that, “Based on a preliminary assessment of what we were seeing on the ground, what we decided to do in ensuring a balance between timeliness and effectiveness of payment and ensuring scrutiny and accuracy of validation, we decided that we would put in a cap of $1,828 (GH₵10,000) and make payment of claims up to $1,828 (GH₵10,000) than to rush to pay-out and short change some legitimate claimants.”

Depositors of 347 collapsed microfinance companies in Ghana will not retrieve their full deposits, here’s why

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