The Ga Rural Bank recorded a net profit of GH₵781,200 in 2022, as against a net of GH₵6million in 2021.
Chairman-Board of Directors, Fred Tetteh – speaking at the bank’s 31st annual meeting of shareholders in Accra, said in 2022 total advances to customers stood at GH₵24.9million from GH₵24.1million in 2021.
He attributed the turnaround to prudent management and tougher and realistic policy directions put in place by the bank: “To demonstrate our commitment in recovering every pesewa from recalcitrant customers, we have engaged three debt-collecting firms who have already started work to complement efforts of the bank’s internal recovery team”.
The board chair meanwhile highlighted the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) as a key risk, noting that the expected impact from the DDEP on the bank’s operations is significant.
“The board will continue to monitor government’s commitment with a view to honouring its part of the contractual agreement covering the bank’s new bond of GH₵29million and determining the fair value at the end of 2023 and beyond. We remain on track with initiatives to measure the ethical impact of the risk factors identified,” he said.
The Chief Executive Officer-Ga Rural Bank, Peter Allotey Acquaye, also attributed the bank’s modest gains to aggressive revenue mobilisation and forward-looking initiatives: “When I took over the reins of the bank, I did an assessment in order to know its strengths and weaknesses; and after that assessment, I realised there was a lot of potential in our catchment areas. There are so many people who do not have financial services. So, in order to broaden our financial inclusion, we took the decision to aggressively pursue a deposit mobilisation strategy; and as part of the strategy, we have approached a lot of schools in our operational areas”.
He said the bank has also put technology at the forefront of its operations, enabling its customers to enjoy quality services and products at their convenience.
“We also identified that there are so many businesses in our catchment areas; but because we are a rural bank, they feel that a rural bank cannot give them certain kinds of services. So management reached out to those companies, and we have been taking their deposits. We go there 24/7 – even on holidays and weekends,” Mr. Acquaye added.
