By Juliet Aguiar DUGBARTEY, Takoradi
The Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Julian Opuni, has underscored the need for Ghanaians to build a strong savings culture to create wealth and alleviate poverty.
“Any small amount is a good start. Savings help individuals to be optimistic about the future. Knowing what you are saving for can keep you on track when temptations to spend arise” he said.
According to him, most Ghanaians prefer keeping their money at home rather than saving it with a financial institution.
“This makes the individual fall on it as and when he or she needs money to deal with pressing financial issues,” he explained.
To reverse this, he said, it will require more education by the financial institutions to bring a paradigm shift among the Ghanaian population in the understanding of savings.
Mr. Opuni was speaking at a media forum, organised by the bank for some selected journalists of the Western and Central Regions at Takoradi.
It was on the topic ‘Building a sustainable future together’.
He explained that Fidelity is a wholly Ghanaian bank operating in the country since 2006, with more than 8,000 agents that provides excellence for all.
“We are still hoping and believing we’ll become the largest branch network in Ghana and we’re really proud of what we have done. But the only way is to partner you, the media, to help us achieve excellence. So, I’m looking forward to that engagement,” the Fidelity MD said.
He agreed with the suggestion that a workshop on financial reporting and banking issues should be organised for the media, to improve and deepen their understanding of the sector and help educate the public on financial inclusion and disciple.
He mentioned that the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility focuses on youth employment, health, education and agriculture.
“We give funds to support health projects, grants to build businesses, money to build schools among others. We are doing about 15 school buildings and so far we have finished 12 and with three more to go. I believe in empowering others to make impacts by giving loans at a low interest rate,” Mr. Opuni added.
He continued: “We offer investment banking advisory services, portfolio management and other financial products and services. Our vision is to become a world-class financial institution that provides superior returns for all stakeholders. Fidelity has a mission to strengthen the financial well-being of our clients. We are pushing to get into the top-three over the next few years”.
