Amenfiman Rural Bank has been operational since 1980, conducting the business of banking for the past 42 years since it was mandated to do so. The bank is headquartered at Wassa Akropong in the Amenfi East Municipality in the Western Region of Ghana and under prudent management and visionary leadership.
It currently has 18 outlets spread across four regions within Ghana namely; Western, Western North, Central and Ashanti with direct employment of 600 staff.
Over the past decade, the Amenfiman Rural Bank has experienced tremendous growth under the dedicated, visionary and a vibrant leadership of its Board of Directors chaired by Dr. Anthony Kwesi Aubynn. Management and administration is under the direction of a strong and competent management team led by Dr .Alexander Kwadwo Asmah, who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in sustaining the gains of the bank over the years.
Driven by the vision to become Ghana’s Most Preferred Bank for the micro, small and medium enterprises sector, the bank’s mission has been to deliver first-rate financial services using the best people and technology to create the ultimate customer experience and value for stakeholders by enabling women empowerment and rural digital innovation.
At Amenfiman, “we make money by serving. We recognise the individual needs of our customers and insulate them with a suite of optimised services. People are golden and they will pay for your efforts if you focus on serving them what they need and want with respect”, said Chief Executive Officer, Alexander Asmah.
“Creating a winning business model around economically marginalised individuals is not an easy task. However, regarding their socio-economic situations and consistently empowering their lives is the most rewarding business,” he added .
Amenfiman Rural Bank PLC is a very progressive bank and has consistently demonstrated exponential growth in key financial performance indicators. Over the last decade (2014 to 2023), the bank has increased its total assets from GH₵73million to GH₵876million, which is a growth of over 1000 percent. This growth stems from a massive investment in growth, which shows in the 1224 percent increase in PPE used for the bank’s operation over the period. Deposits held by the bank have also increased from GH₵59million to GH₵768million over the period, with the bank achieving a significant milestone of GH₵1billion in deposits in June 2024, making it the first rural bank to reach that threshold in both deposits and assets.
The afore-mentioned performance leaves quite a number of questions to be answered in terms of what fuelled such tremendous growth and what has been the impact of the bank within this time. It is important to note that the bank has achieved these performance indicators at a time when the business environment has been described as volatile, complex and risky. In a time that businesses are protecting deposits, Amenfiman Rural Bank has placed over GH¢500million in promoting small, micro and medium-scale businesses.
The bank has a mission to drive financial inclusion in our communities by serving the unbanked and the underbanked population of the market with emphasis on MSME by giving them easy, convenient and cost-effective access to financial products using the appropriate technology and the best people while creating value for the owners.
Net worth of the bank also moved from GH₵9million to GH₵72million in the last 10 years, a growth of 640 percent; and reported an earnings per share of GH₵0.34 for its shares which currently sell at GH₵0.2. Return to shareholders is important to the bank; however, ensuring that the business continues to thrive in a sustainable environment is also critical. Therefore, the bank continues to invest significantly in corporate social responsibility areas such as health, education and sanitation.
Amenfiman Rural Bank provides loans to support more businesses than any rural bank in Ghana, with a loan portfolio which currently holds over GH₵500million with focus on medium small and micro enterprises (SMEs) as well as agricultural economic units. Over the years, the bank has been the farmers friend and has now become a household name in granting credit support to farmers, especially cocoa farmers within its catchment.
The bank has also shown strong commitment to government’s Agenda 1D1F by giving financial support to Amenfi Starch Company located at Wassa Akropong, and also collaborating with Rural Enterprise Fund, giving the same financial support to Sefwi Akontombra Rice Company – all geared toward creating employment.
As part of efforts to improve the livelihood of Ghanaians, Amenfiman Rural Bank PLC. has partnered with the Development Bank of Ghana (DBG) to facilitate long-term financing to business start-ups that focus on women and youth. Amenfiman Rural Bank PLC has further established short-term funding programmes with one of the most competitive rates within the country, geared toward women and youth-led businesses for their short-term lending needs. These programmes are separate and exclusive to the MSME Donkomi programme which has also been in full swing since June 2024.
Amenfiman Rural Bank is contributing tremendously to the growth and development of individuals and businesses across the country and this has led to the bank receiving awards and recognitions from local and international organisations during the year 2024. Some of the recognition includes:
- CIMG Rural Bank of the Year Award (Chartered Institute of Marketing)
- CICM Bank of the Year Award (Chartered Institute of Credit Management)
- World Confederation of Businesses (World COB) Awards 2024.
- Financial Inclusion Rural Bank of the Year from Financial Advocacy Centre – UK
The CEO of the Bank, Dr. Alexander Asmah, has been named as the Most Respected CEO of the Rural Banking sector multiple times, winning this and other awards in the current year. The story of Amenfiman Rural Bank is a clear indication that to every successful business, there is also a successful leadership.
Amenfiman Rural Bank has distinguished itself in the rural banking sector of Ghana through its excellent service quality, superlative customer experience and trust, and achievement of sound financial growth over the years, with 2024 being an improvement over the bank’s historical performance.
As the bank grows in products, services and size, the Board, Management and staff of the bank are also committed to continuously meeting and exceeding demands of customers and the public.
