According to the information provided from the Office of the Registrar of Companies (ORC) in Ghana, there are currently 719,973 registered businesses in Ghana that are not in good standing. Out of a total of 1,023,715 business entities registered since 2011, only 257,038 are considered to be in good standing as of June 30, 2023.
Deadline Extended
To address this situation, the ORC has decided to extend the deadline for filing annual returns and renewals to September 30, 2023. This extension aims to provide companies and businesses in default with the opportunity to complete the necessary processes for filing their annual returns and renewals. The entities covered by this extension include companies limited by shares, companies limited by guarantee, external companies, partnerships, business names (sole proprietorships), and subsidiary business names.
The reason for the deadline extension is attributed to the downtimes experienced by the ORC’s software application system throughout the period, which hindered companies and businesses from completing their filing processes.
What the Law Says
If companies and businesses fail to comply with the extended deadline, the ORC will initiate the process of striking off these entities from the register by the end of September 2023, in accordance with Section 5A (2) of the Registration of Business Names Act, 1962 (Act 151).
Source: Business and Financial Times