KEY POINTS
- Accra High Court rules Shelter Afrique breached $5.2m loan deal.
- Eric Ebo Acquah’s Blue Rose wins $1m award.
- Delayed 17-month disbursement undermined housing project timeline.
Eric Ebo Acquah, a Ghanaian real estate developer and the founder and managing director of Blue Rose Limited, has won a $1 million court case against Shelter Afrique Development Bank for breaking a finance arrangement for an affordable housing project.
Decision of the court
On July 24, 2025, the Commercial Division of the Accra High Court said that Shelter Afrique did not give out money from a $5.2 million facility even though Blue Rose met all the prerequisites before the loan.
Justice Samuel Djanie Kotey said that Acquah’s company had met the requirements for the first tranche by August 2017, but the bank held off on giving the money for 17 months, which went against the contract’s 36-month moratorium term.
Justice Kotey observed in the decision, “The plaintiff’s letter of repudiation was justified because the defendant acted in breach of the agreement.”
Background
The disagreement started with a pact from 2016 in which Shelter Afrique would pay for 64 percent of a 170-unit housing project and Blue Rose would put in $2.9 million. An addendum in 2017 confirmed Shelter Afrique’s role as the main lender and required Blue Rose to put up its own money up front. Court records showed that Blue Rose did what it was supposed to do, but Shelter Afrique didn’t send its part on time.
Damages
Blue Rose wanted more than $1.1 million in damages. The court gave GHS500,000 ($44,968) in general damages and GHS100,000 ($8,998) in litigation costs, as well as legal, appraisal, commitment, and front-end fees.
Justice Kotey added that the damages were based on the financial stress that Shelter Afrique’s breach created, such as lost revenue and cash flow problems.
More important effects
The decision is a blow to Shelter Afrique, which is owned by 44 African nations, the African Development Bank, and Africa Reinsurance Corporation. For Acquah, it signals the end of a years-long court battle and shows how hard it is for African developers to get money to build affordable housing.
Profile of Blue Rose
Blue Rose started out as a horticultural company in 1989 and switched to real estate in 2005. Since then, it has built over 2,500 residences, including its flagship Blue Rose City at Budumburam-Kasoa. The complex has residences with one to three bedrooms plus schools, stores, and utilities nearby.
Acquah, who used to be the first vice president of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association, has made Blue Rose one of the main groups fighting for affordable housing in Ghana’s cities.
