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Claim: A claim circulating on Facebook states that Ecobank was made to pay compound interest at 30% for over 18 years in the Daniel Ofori investment dispute.
Verdict: Misleading! The 30% rate is accurate and verified. However, the “over 18 years” duration is factually wrong on two counts. According to a court computation order issued by the Supreme Court of Ghana on 17 June 2020, a primary source document reviewed by DUBAWA, the compound interest at 30% ran from June 2, 2008, to July 25, 2018, a period of exactly 10 years, not 18. The broader 18-year figure, as reported and confirmed in the Supreme Court’s May 6, 2026, ruling, refers to the total duration of the litigation, not the interest accrual period.
Full Text
One of the most protracted legal battles in the financial sector between an entrepreneur, Daniel Ofori and Ecobank Ghana has ended at least for the time being, after almost 18 years of litigation. The Supreme Court delivered a verdict in favour of Mr Ofori in a litigation of multiple strands that has traversed the country’s courts from the High Court to the Supreme Court.
Shortly after the verdict, multiple social media reports went viral. A social media user, Jabir Mohammed (archived here), in reporting the decision of the Supreme Court, said
“Ecobank should have given up way back in 2008 to avoid the huge compound interest of 30% for over 18years.”
For a case of this magnitude, any wrong information about the purported interest rate and the tenure of payment could be a potential source of disinformation, more so to attribute it to the ruling of the court.
DUBAWA therefore decided to look into the claim and to ascertain if Ecobank has to pay a 30% Compound Interest of 18 years to Daniel Ofori. Before that, though, a little background on the case is necessary.
Background
Daniel Ofori is a Ghanaian business magnate, investor, and philanthropist considered one of the pioneers of the retail superstore revolution of the 1980s and 1990s. He is the founder of White Chapel Limited, a pioneer apparel retail outlet that spanned Ghana, which he reportedly set up at age 15 and grew into the country’s largest apparel superstore chain. He later established Advance Ventures Limited, a structural design and real estate development company, and Dano Engineering. He is also identified as the richest individual investor on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
The dispute traces its origins to a share transaction on the Ghana Stock Exchange in late May 2008. Ofori, through broker Databank Brokerage, sold 14,310,000 CalBank shares to a buyer whose purchasing bank was Ecobank Ghana. The trade was executed on the floor of the exchange on May 27, 2008.
A screenshot of Ofori Vrs Ecobank Ghana Ltd and Others [2018]
Three days later, Databank presented for payment. The shares had already been transferred to the buyer’s name. Ecobank, acting under pressure from the Bank of Ghana, which had intervened in the transaction over concerns about the nature of the deal, refused to release the full payment to which Ofori was entitled. The transaction was effectively undone after the shares had already legally changed hands.
According to Ofori’s claims, payment complications emerged after concerns were raised by regulators, including the Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission. One of the major questions that emerged during the case was why Ofori allegedly continued receiving dividends on the shares after the sale had supposedly been completed — an issue Ecobank used as part of its broader defence strategy.
Ecobank, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Ghana Stock Exchange won at the High Court in 2011 and at the Court of Appeal in 2013.
The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal’s decision in 2018 and awarded interest in favour of Ofori, based in part on an investment arrangement between Ecobank and Ofori.
The May 6, 2026, ruling by a five-member Supreme Court panel presided over by Justice Amadu Tanko dismissed Ecobank’s final application and brought the 18-year legal battle to a definitive close.
So did the Supreme Court ask Ecobank to pay a compound interest of 30% for over 18years?
Verification
The 30% compound interest did not run for 18 years. The Supreme Court’s orders confirmed in a court computation ruling dated June 17, 2020, (see attached court document) and upheld in the May 2026 final ruling make the period explicit: interest on GH₵6,160,240 at 30% compound interest ran from June 2, 2008, to July 25, 2018, a period of exactly 10 years, not 18.
Source: Court computation order, 17 June 2020 (Supreme Court of Ghana)
After July 25, 2018, the date the Supreme Court first entered judgment in Ofori’s favour, the rate changed entirely.
Post-judgment interest accrued at 13.34% simple interest, not at 30% compound. A second tranche of GH₵7,600,000 attracted simple interest at 13.34% from June 2, 2008, to the date of final payment.
The 18-year figure circulating in public commentary refers to the total duration of the legal battle: from the date of the original investment in June 2008 to the Supreme Court’s dismissal of Ecobank’s final application in May 2026.
That is a description of litigation history, not the interest accrual period. Conflating the two produces a materially misleading claim.
Conclusion
The claim that Ecobank paid 30% compound interest for over 18 years is misleading. The 30% rate is accurate and was a contractually agreed rate, not one arbitrarily imposed by the court. However, the duration of 18 years is wrong. The compound interest ran for exactly 10 years — from 2 June 2008 to 25 July 2018.
After that date, the applicable rate changed to 13.34% simple interest. The 18-year figure conflates the length of the litigation with the interest accrual period, which are two entirely distinct things.
Court-verified computations show total interest payments of GH₵95,595,307.16 across both tranches.
