When share ownership becomes personal: The African mindset of the Dangote IPO

1. Introduction

Personally, the decision by the Ghana Police Service to reschedule the full implementation of the TRAFFITECH-GH automated enforcement regime under the Road Traffic Regulations, 2026 (L.I. 2519) from October 1 to November 1, 2026, is a welcome and pragmatic policy adjustment.

Introduction:

The monetary integration of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has become an exercise in perpetual postponement: more than four decades after it first made moves to establish a common currency, the bloc has yet to achieve its goal.

Imagine an Accra-based company preparing to pay a Chinese supplier for a shipment of equipment.  

Imagine a country in which the President delivers a major national address declaring that Citizen Experience must improve.

It is quite a normal sight on Ghanaian roads: a toddler sitting in the front passenger seat, sometimes on an adult’s lap, sometimes standing between the seats and occasionally even appearing to “help” Mum or Dad drive. We have seen it so often that it barely attracts attention.

For generations, millions of children encountered the world through maps that gave them a misleading impression of its proportions. Africa appeared modest in size, while Europe, North America, Canada, Russia and Greenland seemed overwhelmingly large.