Ghanaian Businesses Urged to Engage Transaction Advisors to Drive Growth

By Praisebell Rosemond Larbi

Ghanaian businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), have been urged to prioritise the engagement of professional transaction advisors as a strategic necessity for growth, investment attraction, and participation in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions.

The call was made during a joint webinar organised by the UK–Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC) and Deloitte Ghana on the theme “Enhancing the Investment Climate in Ghana – The Role of Transaction Advisors for Business Expansion and Growth.” The session brought together leading transaction, valuation, corporate finance and integration experts from across Deloitte Africa to examine why advisory services are becoming indispensable in today’s complex investment environment.

Speakers at the webinar cautioned that a significant number of Ghanaian businesses lose value, fail to attract capital, or collapse entirely because they attempt to navigate complex transactions without expert guidance. According to the panel, issues such as weak deal structuring, poor valuations, regulatory non-compliance, and inadequate due diligence continue to undermine otherwise promising enterprises.

While acknowledging that some businesses deliberately avoid transaction advisors due to perceived high costs, Deloitte’s Africa Infrastructure and Capital Projects Partner, Yaw Appiah Lartey, challenged this reasoning, arguing that the real cost lies in not engaging professional advisors.

“Let us not be people who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing, adding that the common perception that “an adviser looks at your watch and tells you the time” has discouraged many entrepreneurs from accessing support that could ultimately preserve and enhance enterprise value,” he said.

The experts noted that although Ghana remains an attractive investment destination, its business and regulatory environment is increasingly sophisticated. Companies that operate without professional advisory support risk mispricing transactions, failing regulatory and investor checks, overlooking hidden risks, and making strategic decisions that destroy long-term value rather than create it.

The Critical Role of Transaction Advisors

The panel explained that transaction advisors now play an end-to-end role in the lifecycle of modern business transactions. Their work extends beyond deal execution to include preparing businesses for growth, ensuring investor readiness, structuring transactions, managing negotiations, and supporting post-transaction integration.

Deloitte Ghana Associate Director, Dennis Brown, explained that advisory support typically covers the preparation of comprehensive business plans and information memoranda, development of robust financial models, valuation analysis, and early identification of risks and opportunities before businesses approach investors.

Deloitte Africa Corporate Finance Leader, Jonathan Godden, described transaction advisors as the bridge that “connects a willing buyer with a willing seller,” noting that advisors understand what funders and strategic investors look for and help businesses align their structures, information, and strategy with investor expectations.

On the post-transaction phase, Deloitte Africa Post-Merger Integration and Value Creation Leader, Angela Rogan, emphasised that many deals fail not at signing but during implementation. She noted that advisors play a critical role in designing integration blueprints that minimise disruption, align operations, and protect value following mergers or acquisitions.

Deloitte Africa Valuation and Modelling Leader, Jared Moodley, stressed the importance of objective valuations, warning that business owners who rely on sentiment rather than data often make costly mistakes.

“If you’re transacting based on sentiment, it’s very neurotic. You need a solid financial model. That’s where transaction advisors help quantify complexity and support sound decision-making,” he said.

The importance of rigorous due diligence was also highlighted. Deloitte Africa Transaction Services Leader, Sean McPhee, described due diligence as “the heart of any transaction,” noting that advisory teams assess financial, tax, operational, commercial, legal, human resource, IT, ESG and cyber risks to ensure clients fully understand what they are buying or selling.

Supporting SMEs and Broadening Access

SMEs, which account for more than 70 percent of Ghana’s GDP, were identified as the most vulnerable to funding gaps, weak governance structures, and poor investor readiness. The panel urged SMEs to view advisory services not as a cost but as a long-term investment in capability building.

Deloitte Africa Innovation and Ventures Leader, Wendy Pienaar, emphasised that strong business plans and credible financial information are critical tools for positioning SMEs competitively.

“A business plan should not just be a compliance document. It is a powerful positioning tool that communicates credibility, vision and value to investors,” she said.

The webinar, moderated by Deloitte Ghana’s Samera Tara, also explored emerging issues shaping Ghana’s investment ecosystem, including completion mechanisms in M&A transactions, the evolving role of advisory services in an era of artificial intelligence, and the factors influencing investor appetite for Ghanaian businesses.

Participants agreed that as Ghana seeks to deepen private-sector growth and attract sustainable investment, professional transaction advisory support will increasingly become a competitive necessity rather than a luxury.