Asset Management Corporation: Veep touts role in raising capital

Government has said that it will soon establish the Ghana Asset Management Corporation with the sole aim of building, managing and maintaining the billions of assets of the country.

Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia, delivering the keynote address at the maiden National Policy Summit in Accra, noted that Ghana’s assets are not properly recorded and underutilised.

“We are going to form the Ghana Asset Management Corporation that will put together all the assets of the country and make sure that we bring life to these dead assets. We have a lot of them but we are not leveraging them efficiently.

In many other countries, these assets are grouped as part of a portfolio and leveraged to raise a lot of funds. We have billions of dollars in terms of assets including railways, factories and all sorts of assets which can be used in raising capital,” he noted.

The Vice President, in explaining how Ghana is not utilising its assets to optimum effect, said the nation neglect of its assets can be likened to building a house and not having proper documentation.

“This means that, that asset is dead value and you cannot use it to raise any money. But if you are able to get all the documents that matter, you can mortgage that house and raise money,” he added.

The B&FT recently reported that the Lands Commission had to foil attempts by unscrupulous citizens who were purchasing state lands on the blind side of the commission.

If all assets are properly documented and entrusted in the care of an institution like the Ghana Asset Management Corporation, on behalf of the state, any movement of assets into the hands of undeserving people can easily be tracked, stopped and perpetrators will be duly dealt with.

“We are moving to implement that Ghana Asset Management Corporation where we will record all our assets and manage them properly. It will be the responsibility of this corporation to ensure the maintenance, as well as the management of these assets.

We need a body like this and this happens in many countries. It is going to be huge and we will leverage our assets to raise money,” he added.

In bemoaning the lack of Ghana ability to use its assets in, including assets that are uncompleted, Dr. Bawumia said economy managers are always talking in terms of the liabilities.

“We do not talk in terms of our assets, meanwhile, we have so much in terms of assets but we are getting little out of those assets,” he added.

When the new administration took over a couple of months ago, it uncovered the loss of some state vehicles and other properties. But with an efficient asset management company in place, every small or big asset of the nation can easily be tracked and recorded.