Lawyer and Partner and Transactions & Africa Infrastructure & Capital Projects Leader at Deloitte, Yaw Appiah Lartey, has cautioned state-owned enterprises (SOEs) against treating the submission of audited financial statements as sufficient compliance with corporate governance requirements.

According to him, while the increase in the number of state entities submitting audited accounts is a positive development, SOEs must go further by ensuring their financial statements are properly subjected to the required governance processes.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, September 5, Mr Appiah Laryea also noted that the number of entities that submitted audited financial statements increased significantly, from 53 in the previous reporting period to 108 in the latest report.

He commended government and the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) for the improvement, describing it as a positive indication of progress in corporate governance.

“So audited financial statements increased from 53 to 108. So that's an improved corporate governance framework, and we must commend government or the SIGA for it.”

However, he stressed that the filing of audited accounts is only one aspect of good corporate governance.

“But it is not just about reporting your financial statement or submitting audited accounts. There are other corporate governance frameworks that you have to follow.

“If you just submit your financial statement without having a general meeting or annual general meeting, that does not meet the overall corporate governance requirements.”

He therefore urged SIGA and state-owned entities to focus not only on meeting reporting deadlines but also on ensuring that the accounts are properly scrutinised and approved through the appropriate corporate structures.

“We should not just be interested in just submitting financial statement. We should ensure that that financial statement has properly gone through the mill, including having annual general meetings.”

His comments come amid discussions over SIGA’s latest State Ownership Report and efforts to improve transparency, accountability and corporate governance across Ghana’s state-owned entities.

Mr Appiah Lartey also argued that SIGA’s assessment of state entities should distinguish between commercially oriented organisations and institutions established primarily to provide public services, saying the two categories require different measures of performance.