The Ghana Ministry of Finance has inaugurated an inter-agency Technical Working Group to develop a comprehensive framework for the management of unclaimed funds, aiming to address fragmented arrangements for dormant and unclaimed financial assets. The work is intended to establish a single national pathway for citizens to trace and reclaim assets and to align standards across banking, pensions, insurance, securities and e-money services. Current arrangements differ across sectors in dormancy definitions, reporting standards and tracing mechanisms, with particular coordination gaps identified in insurance and pensions. Initial indications suggest the amounts involved run into billions of GHS. The group’s first task is to replace existing estimates with verified sector-by-sector data to create a national baseline. Its membership includes the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Ghana, National Pensions Regulatory Authority, Securities and Exchange Commission, SSNIT, National Communications Authority, National Identification Authority, the Attorney-General’s Department and other institutions. The mandate has also been expanded beyond regulated financial sectors to cover other unclaimed assets, including lottery and gaming winnings, court-awarded funds, intestacy-related property, public sector salary arrears and real estate. The Technical Working Group is expected to submit its framework within three months.

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