The President of the Chartered Institute of Restructuring and Insolvency Practitioners (CIRIP), Ghana, Felix Addo, has called for a stronger business rescue culture to prevent distressed but viable companies from being unnecessarily liquidated.
He said rescuing struggling businesses was critical to protecting jobs, preserving investments, sustaining government tax revenues and preventing the collapse of businesses within their supply chains.
Mr Addo said this at an Editors Forum on Business Rescue, Economic Resilience and the Role of the Media in Accra on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.
The forum was held on the theme: “Rescue, Reform, Renewal — CIRIP @ 20; Leading Business Restructuring and the Future of Economic Growth in Ghana”.
Avoidable losses
Mr Addo said CIRIP’s establishment in 2006 was driven by the need to change the approach to distressed businesses, particularly under a legal regime that largely provided for companies to move from incorporation to liquidation.
He recalled that several companies, including the Bank for Housing and Construction and the Cooperative Bank, had been liquidated despite having assets, because they lacked sufficient liquidity to meet their obligations.
He cited Ghana Airways as a major example, saying that when the airline collapsed in 2005, it had more than 2,000 employees, operations in about 16 countries and debts exceeding $200 million.
Its assets, he said, were estimated at only about $25 million after they were aggregated and converted to cash.
Mr Addo said the collapse also affected hotels, cargo agencies and other businesses that depended on Ghana Airways, demonstrating the wider economic consequences of corporate failure.
Rescue tools
He said CIRIP had since its establishment worked with stakeholders to promote a legal framework that allowed distressed businesses to recover rather than face immediate liquidation.
Among the key achievements, he said, was the modernisation of Ghana’s corporate legal framework through the Companies Act, 2019, which replaced the decades-old Companies Code.
He said CIRIP and its partners also contributed to the development of the Corporate Insolvency and Restructuring Act, 2020 (Act 1015), which introduced business rescue mechanisms, including administration, restructuring, creditor moratoriums and commencement financing.
Media role
Mr Addo urged the media to help educate businesses as the public that financial distress did not necessarily mean the end of a company.
“We want you, the media, as you have been part of it since the beginning, to spread the word,” he said.
He said CIRIP, which was marking its 20th anniversary this year, wanted to reinforce its role as an integral part of Ghana’s business and economic ecosystem and encourage distressed businesses to seek professional assistance early.
