The Effect of Ownership Structure on the Financial Performance of Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria and Ghana

OLATUNJI; Toyin Emmanuel; AKANBI; Taibat Adenike; BAKARE; Samuel; Bamidele

doi:10.56201/ijefm.v10.no10.2025.pg98.109

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The Effect of Ownership Structure on the Financial Performance of Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria and Ghana

OLATUNJI, Toyin Emmanuel, AKANBI, Taibat Adenike and, BAKARE, Samuel, Bamidele

Abstract

This study examines how ownership structure influences the financial performance of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria and Ghana. Recognised as a critical determinant of firm outcomes, ownership structure, which includes managerial, institutional, foreign, and family ownership, is particularly important in the banking sector because governance failures have repeatedly caused distress. The research applies a quantitative approach using a longitudinal, ex-post facto design with secondary data obtained from annual reports of 19 listed banks across both countries from 2013 to 2022. A census sampling method was adopted, with Jaiz Bank excluded because of its non- interest model. The findings demonstrate important cross-country variations. Managerial ownership averaged 11.3 percent in Nigeria but only 0.7 percent in Ghana, while institutional ownership was 29.6 percent and 11.7 percent respectively. Foreign ownership was higher in Ghana at 0.63 percent compared to Nigeria at 0.41 percent, and family ownership was also stronger in Ghana at 0.98 percent compared to Nigeria at 0.23 percent. Regression analysis shows that in Nigeria foreign ownership positively and significantly affected profitability (? = 0.481; p < 0.05), while in Ghana institutional ownership negatively and significantly influenced performance (? = –0.005; p < 0.05). The study concludes that ownership structures have mixed effects on bank performance. It therefore recommends stronger governance discipline for institutional investors in Ghana, greater encouragement of stable foreign participation in Nigeria, and reforms to reduce the negative impact of family dominance in Ghanaian banks.

Keywords

Ownership structureInstitutional ownershipManagerial ownershipForeign

References

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The Effect of Ownership Structure on the Financial Performance of Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria and Ghana

Abstract

Keywords

References

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