More than half of the GH¢19.8 billion combined net profit reported by Ghana’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in 2025 was influenced by foreign exchange gains, the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) has disclosed.
SIGA Director-General, Professor Michael Kpessa-Whyte, said the appreciation of the Ghana cedi against major international currencies was a significant contributor to the sharp improvement recorded in the financial performance of state-owned enterprises.
The disclosure follows the release of SIGA’s 2025 State Ownership Report, which showed that SOEs collectively moved from a net loss of GH¢2.26 billion in 2024 to a net profit of GH¢19.8 billion in 2025.
The dramatic turnaround has triggered questions about the sustainability of the reported gains and the extent to which the stronger cedi contributed to the results.
Speaking in an interview with Joy News on Sunday, September 6, Prof. Kpessa-Whyte defended the report but acknowledged that foreign exchange movements played a major role in shaping the figures.
He said SIGA had been transparent about the impact of the cedi’s appreciation and had made several disclosures on the issue in the report.
According to him, the impact of foreign exchange gains was highlighted repeatedly in the foreword to the report, which he personally signed.
“In the report, SIGA made copious disclosures; in fact, in the foreword to the report that I signed, in three different places within the report, I had indicated that the performances we have seen have been significantly shaped by improvements in the forex,” he said.
Prof. Kpessa-Whyte urged the public to study the full report rather than attributing the entire improvement in SOE finances to foreign exchange gains.
“It is true that forex was a significant part of it. But to say that forex alone provides the overall explanation is not necessarily the case,” he explained.
He nevertheless conceded that the influence of the cedi’s appreciation was substantial.
“To be blunt, forex was a big part of it. More than 50 percent of the profit margins were shaped largely by forex,” he said.
The SIGA Director-General’s comments provide further context to the headline financial turnaround recorded by SOEs in 2025, while highlighting the role of currency movements in interpreting their reported profitability.
The disclosure also underscores the need to distinguish between gains arising from underlying operational improvements and those influenced by changes in exchange rates when assessing the financial health of state-owned enterprises.
