Dr Ernest Addison, BoG Governor
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has debunked claims that uniBank Ghana Ltd. has taken over the running of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).
News of the supposed takeover went viral Monday morning.
Various news reports suggested that a consortium of financial institutions that control majority shares in agric-focused ADB had pledged its shares, proceeds, entitlements and voting rights to uniBank, a wholly Ghanaian-owned bank.
This was also given some kind of credence by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for uniBank, Dr Kwabena Duffuor II, who spoke on some radio networks about the supposed deal.
The consortium was said to have been led by Belstar Capital – a turnkey project finance and implementation institution – and also has Starmount Development Company Limited, EDC Investments Limited and SIC-FSL as members.
This came as a surprise to many who heard the news, considering the operations of ADB and its effect on the country’s agriculture sector.
But that claim was short-lived after the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr Ernest Addison, had issued a disclaimer, denying such takeover.
Speaking at the commissioning of the new Ecobank head office building in Accra, which was performed by President Akufo-Addo, Dr Addison underscored, “I should at this point respond to some of the news developing this morning, just to clarify that the Bank of Ghana has not given approval for the purported takeover or through the pledging of shares of the Agricultural Development Bank to uniBank.”
“The bank has also noted the challenges in the finance sector and would like to assure the public that it is taking steps to address these challenges through our monitoring of the microfinance institutions,” the Governor said.
“We have also held a number of meetings with shareholders and management of the affected institutions.”
Together with the government, Dr Addison revealed that “the bank is working on a comprehensive reform programme to address the challenges in the microfinance sector and strengthen regulatory and supervisory oversight.”
The BoG, therefore, resolved to publish a list of microfinance institutions in general compliant of the Bank of Ghana’s guidelines.
President Akufo-Addo expressed grave concern about the lending rates in the country, which he said was affecting private sector development.
“If we are ready to give impetus to private sector development in our country, lending rates have to come down; and they need to come down as a matter of urgency,” he said.
Lending rate in Ghana hovers between 31% and 29%.
He was of the belief that a strong commitment by a bank like Ecobank – one of the leading banks in the country – would bring down the lending rate to tackle this anomaly.”
According to the president, “It will be the way we can grow our private sector and enable it to create jobs and all the other linkages will just grow into enhancement of our general prosperity.”
He, therefore, charged all banks in the country to consider reducing their lending rates as quickly as possible.
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent