Green financing isn't a trend Ghanaian businesses can afford to watch from the sidelines. Climate change has stopped being a problem for tomorrow. For many businesses today, its impact is already visible on the balance sheet: rising energy costs, disrupted supply chains, flood-related logistics delays, and productivity challenges linked to unreliable power supply.

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which constitute approximately 92% of registered businesses in Ghana and contribute close to 70% of the country's GDP, these are not abstract environmental concerns. They are real and growing operational costs that erode margins, affect competitiveness, and make business predictability and planning increasingly difficult.

For years, sustainability was treated as something only large corporates needed to think about; at best, it was a line in an annual report or a box to tick. That narrative is changing. Increasingly, how a business manages energy, water and waste determines whether it can win contracts, access financing (and at what cost), and compete for market share.

The ground has shifted under Ghana's financial sector. The subject of sustainability is no longer a distant, overseas conversation. Ghana's own regulatory architecture has moved quickly in the last two years:

• The Bank of Ghana's Sustainable Banking Principles, first developed with the IFC and the Ghana Association of Bankers, now guide how regulated financial institutions assess environmental and social risk. Compliance across the industry has climbed from roughly 42% to about 73% in the space of a few years, demonstrating how seriously banks are now taking this.
• In October 2024, the Ministry of Finance published Ghana's first Green Finance Taxonomy, giving banks, investors and businesses a shared definition of what counts as a genuinely "green" activity and a clearer path for channelling capital towards it, starting with energy, transport, agriculture, water and waste management, as well as construction.
• The Bank of Ghana's Climate-Related Financial Risk Directive (May 2024) now requires regulated institutions to actively assess and report on climate exposure in their lending books.

Put simply, green financing is no longer a niche product that a handful of banks offer as a gesture. It is becoming embedded in how mainstream lending decisions are made in Ghana. Businesses that proactively manage environmental risks and improve resource efficiency will find it easier to attract capital, build strategic partnerships, and compete in local and international markets. Conversely, businesses that fail to adapt become less competitive in the marketplace. Indeed, any business that is not planning for transition is planning for obsolescence.

Sustainability Can Strengthen Business Performance

Green finance is often misunderstood as being solely about environmental protection. In reality, it is fundamentally about building stronger and more resilient businesses.

A tailoring business that switches to energy-efficient machines cuts its electricity bill and becomes a more attractive borrower. A food processing company that tightens its water use and waste management isn't just doing the responsible thing; it is building a track record that lenders are now specifically trained to recognise and reward. The real barrier isn't financing. It's information. Many SME owners are unaware of the financing opportunities available to support such transitions.

The Information Gap Remains the Biggest Barrier

Access to green capital in Ghana isn't primarily a supply problem; it's an awareness problem. Many SME owners simply don't know that these financing options exist. Those who have heard of them often aren't sure if they qualify, how to qualify, what lenders' expectations are, or where to start.

Part of this is because the national conversation about sustainability has remained at the level of international climate commitments, rather than translating into practical guidance for a business owner in Accra, Kumasi or Tamale trying to figure out whether a solar-powered water pump is worth the upfront cost.

Closing that gap is not just a matter of launching new loan products. It requires a bank to choose to journey with its clients towards sustainability: setting sector-specific goals, identifying best practices and key milestones, and establishing clear sustainability targets to be pursued and measured.

At the Centre of Our SME Strategy

This is the thinking behind Access Bank Ghana's partnership with Birmingham City University, now in its second phase since the collaboration began in 2024. In June, we brought SME owners, prospective clients, and our own credit and relationship teams together in Accra for a two-day Green Financing and Sustainability Workshop, led by BCU professors Professor Javed Ghulam Hussain, Professor Samuel Salia and Professor Amin Karimu.

The sessions were deliberately practical and focused on sustainable business models, the mechanics of green financing structures, and what "sustainability" looks like when it's assessed on a loan application, not a slide deck.

We're taking that further by building sustainability assessment directly into our credit process. SMEs that demonstrate strong environmental practices, whether through energy-efficient equipment, cleaner production methods, or better water and waste management, will be positioned for more favourable financing terms.

This is not a side initiative. It sits alongside the capacity-building work we've done with the IFC and Deloitte, as well as within our broader SME support programmes, because we see sustainability as directly linked to business growth and resilience, not as a compliance exercise layered on top of it.

None of this requires an SME to make sweeping changes overnight. It starts with a short list of honest questions:

• Where is the business losing money?
• Are there green opportunities or better alternatives to remodel my business?
• Could these changes improve my competitiveness and profitability?
• Would they make my business more attractive to financiers and investors?
• What does my bank look for today when assessing a bankable SME?

That last question is one I want more SME owners to bring to us directly. Financing conversations should go beyond the loan amount and repayment schedule; they should be an opportunity to understand what a lender values and how a business can position itself accordingly.

The Time to Act Is Now

Ghanaian businesses have weathered currency swings, energy shortages and rising costs before. Green finance is another shift to navigate, but it's one of the more tractable ones because the tools to respond to it, including efficiency gains and better resource management, tend to strengthen a business regardless of who's financing it.

Businesses that engage with their bank now rather than later will be the ones best positioned as sustainability moves from a differentiator to the standard.

At Access Bank, our SME clients don't have to figure this out alone. That's the point of the work we're doing with Birmingham City University and other development organisations. If you're an SME owner wondering where your business stands, or what a green financing conversation with your bank should cover, we'd like to have that conversation with you.

The future of business beyond profitability is sustainability. And the businesses that embrace this reality today will be the ones that thrive tomorrow.

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Author Priscilla Ashiam is the Head of Public Sector & Sustainability, Access Bank (Ghana) PLC