Amenfiman Rural Bank Plc is head quartered at Wassa Akropong in the Amenfi East Municipality in the Western Region of Ghana. The bank is the first to be established in the Western Region and fourth in Ghana and is now the No.1 Rural Bank in Ghana.
Amenfiman Bank has been consistent in ensuring progressive growth in their key performance areas and has demonstrated resilience even in difficult times. Over the past decade, the Bank’s total asset has grown over 2800percent and with total assets of GH¢750million as at June 2023, making Amenfiman the biggest in the rural banking industry.
The main catalyst to the performance of the bank has been the exceptional leadership drive by the Board and Management and a high sense of dedication demonstrated by the employees of the Bank.
The Bank grown its income from GH¢78.2 million in 2021 to GH¢92.8 million in 2022 representing a growth of 25.4percent. The Bank increased its net worth from GH¢46.9 million to GH¢54.9 million which is a substantial growth of 17.2percent in the shareholder’s fund. The bank recorded profit after tax of GH¢10.7 million representing growth of 5.9percent as an improvement on 2021 performance year. This was a marginal increase and was as a result of some prevailing challenges on our loan recovery due to the impact of Covid -19 in the business environment.
The bank has the largest deposit portfolio in the industry which makes it the most trusted Rural Bank in Ghana. The bank has grown its total deposit of 401.7 million in 2021 to GH¢ 557.1 million 2022 representing 38.8percent. The size of the bank has grown exponentially from GH¢477.4 million in 2021 to GH¢637m which is the largest in the rural banking industry in Ghana.
The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Funding Project (MSMEs Project)
The goal of the Bank has been to facilitate economic growth and development especially in the rural and peri-urban communities and has strategically chosen the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector as the catalyst to achieve its strategic goal. To this end, the Bank increased credit disbursement to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector from GH¢52.3 million in 2021 to GH¢173.9 million in 2022 which is 232.5percent and is the highest in the industry. This is a demonstration of the resilience of the Bank in a post COVID-19 era. The main aim is to provide the much-needed credit support that micro and small businesses require post-covid to sustain growth and maintain their businesses.
When asked what informed the decision to support the MSME sector, the CEO, Dr Alexander Asmah has this to say; “In 2021, after assessing the impact of the COVID-19 on the national economy and the consequences for Micro and Small Businesses, the Bank strategically launched a project on Micro Small loans targeting to support the MSME sector to recover and sustain growth”. He explains, “It is so important for our own sustenance that the MSME sector remain resilient and maintain sustainable growth and to us, this is our own way to champion economic recovery of our dear country in the post-COVID era. In pursuit of this strategy, Micro and Small Business Owners were given flexible terms and conditions in the assessment for the credit facilities from the bank which enabled several clients including those who did not have Bank accounts to access credit for their businesses.
In fact, this is not the first time that Bank had committed such resources to the sector. Over the past decade, the Bank’s commitment to farmers has been unparallel disbursing averaging GH¢30 million cedis per year to farmers alone.
The impact of this post covid recovery intervention initiated by the Bank on the business environment has been of a tremendous benefit in sustaining businesses in the catchment areas of the Bank and the country as a whole.
The Table 1 demonstrate the banks performance on special post covid recovery plan on MSMEs.
| Year | Loan Portfolio Size | No. of Cases | Loan Sales | No. of Cases |
| 2020 | 113,692,921 | 18,179 | 170,616,629 | 10,621 |
| 2021 | 153,146,797 | 21,959 | 217,746,052 | 12,795 |
| 2022 | 175,883,742 | 22,661 | 224,315,474 | 12,524 |
| Jan-June 2023 | 213,363,944 | 25,630 | 161,799,853 | 7,873 |
It’s evident that from 2020 to 2023 June 2023, the bank has grown its loan portfolio by 53.2percent and has also increased the number customers on loans by 40percent which is indeed an exponential growth.
An amount of GH¢774,.5 million has been given out as loans to 43,813 clients during and after COVID-19 from 2020 to June 2023 and this is geared towards economic recovery and growth in the Bank’s areas of operation. This intervention has restored a lot of businesses that were not sound due to capital loss especially during this time of economic crisis and new businesses have been created and some existing businesses have been expanded.
“This is really an amazing story and has strengthen the relationship with our customers, leading to growth in Bank’s customer base, increased customer loyalty” said Mr. Charles Kwame Damoah, Head of Business of the Bank. According to him, the employees of the Bank are motivated by the impact of their work and are always ready to go the extra mile to support businesses. In fact, the corporate image of the Bank has been enhanced.
Going into the future, the CEO, Dr. Alexnader Asmah said the Bank has plans to launch the Women and Youth in Entrepreneurship Program as the next phase of the MSME project to target women and youth in Micro and Small Business in order to provide targeted and specialized packages to them to set them up and support the existing ones to be on their feet in order to grow. According to Dr. Asmah, this is the surest way to help the country recover from both the impact of the COVID-19 and the economic crisis. “This is transformative and life touching experience as people are always eager to share their testimonial about the banks deliberate support to their businesses” the CEO opined.
The Bank funds almost all of this from its own funds through its rural mobilization programs. With the exception of GH¢5 million on-lending fund from Rural Development Fund (RDF) and little over GH¢2 million from the Rural Enterprise Project (REP), the rest are all from customer deposits. The Bank has a huge potential to upscale if given the needed support. Cost of funds and loan impairment remain the main challenges confronting this special initiative.
Corporate Social Responsibility Projects
The Board and Management of the Bank strongly believe that, as a community Bank, profits are not only measured in financial terms but also in terms of contribution and social impact. To this end, the bank has been deeply involved in community developmental agenda through its corporate social responsibility strategy.
Table 2 summarizes the CSR spending for the year 2022
| NO | SECTOR | AMOUNT
GH¢ |
| 1 | Education & sports | 312,366 |
| 2 | Health | 80,000.00 |
| 3 | Security | 57,900.00 |
| 4 | Agriculture | 92,180.00 |
| TOTAL | 542,446.00 |
Awards and Recognition
The work of the Bank has attracted various awards and recognitions locally and internationally including
- Ghana Club 100’s position No. 17 and No. 1 in the Rural Banking Sector
- Association of Rural Banks Ghana – overall Best Rural Bank of the year
- Association of Rural banks – Best Deposit Mobilizing Bank of the Year.
- Chartered Institute of Credit Administration – Rural Bank of the Year
- The Bizz Awards by World confederation of Businesses USA – Most Entrepreneurial Bank of the Year.
Amenfiman Rural Bank is the best place to invest your funds and if you need a loan talk to us.
Thanks to all our stakeholders who have always made us No. 1
Amenfiman Rural Bank, Your Success, Our Pride.
