Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, has challenged the State Interests and Governance Authority’s (SIGA) reported GH¢19.8 billion combined net profit recorded by Ghana’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in 2025.
SIGA’s 2025 State Ownership Report described the results as a significant improvement in the financial performance of the state-owned sector, with total revenue rising by 28.12% from GH¢137.64 billion in 2024 to GH¢176.43 billion in 2025.
The reported net profit also marked a sharp turnaround from the GH¢2.26 billion combined net loss recorded by the covered SOEs in 2024.
However, Bright Simons has questioned whether the headline figures accurately reflect the underlying performance of the enterprises, arguing that currency-related gains significantly influenced the 2025 results.
According to the policy analyst, removing the impact of currency movements paints a less favourable picture of the performance of the state-owned sector.
In a post on X, he described the reported figures as “bizarre” and argued that the apparent improvement in profitability was largely driven by currency revaluations rather than stronger underlying operations.
“State-owned businesses’ underlying profitability declined in 2025. You heard that right. Contrary to what SIGA says, when you remove the currency effects, net profit fell 17.1 per cent, operating profit fell 22.7 per cent, and the operating margin narrowed by three and a half percentage points between 2024 and 2025,” he stated.
Mr Simons said SIGA’s headline figures could create the impression that SOEs had moved from making substantial losses in 2024 to achieving strong operational profitability in 2025.
He argued that this conclusion changes considerably when currency revaluations are excluded from the analysis.
“In simple terms: SIGA told us that a loss of GHS 2.26 billion in 2024 switched into a profit of GHS19.80 billion in 2025. But as everyone now knows, if you ignore the currency revaluations, profit actually fell from GHS9.75 billion to GHS8.08 billion, a decline of 17.1 per cent,” he said.
Mr Simons’ comments therefore challenge the interpretation of the 2025 State Ownership Report, particularly whether the reported return to profitability represents a fundamental improvement in the operational performance of Ghana’s state-owned enterprises or is significantly attributable to favourable currency movements.
