Arnold Parker
AFB Ghana has announced that it made significant gains in 2018.
Arnold Parker, Managing Director of AFB Ghana, who disclosed this on Tuesday on the floor of the Ghana Stock Exchange during its ‘Facts behind the figures,’ said the company’s customer base reached two million in 2018.
Mr. Parker explained the 2018 performance of the company to brokers and journalists.
He attributed the strong performance of AFB Ghana to the core deductions made at source from loans advanced to public sector workers and the introduction of Qwikloan, a mobile loan offering on MTN which recorded impressive growth during the year.
“The Qwikloan Solution showed impressive growth, as it fetched bulk customers who reached 1.8 million by the end of 2018,” he added.
He stated that “the company also witnessed a 349% growth in deposits from both individual and corporate customers, increased its profit after tax by 17% year-on-year, and net loan book also increased by 142% for the same period.
But notwithstanding the gains recorded by the Qwikloan Solution, Mr. Parker reiterated that the company incurred some losses.
“We took a very big hit in 2018 because 90 percent of our bad loans in 2018 is attributable to the Qwikloan,” he said.
Mr. Parker also indicated that to significantly reduce the level of loan impairments this year, AFB Ghana strengthened their loan recovery measures by implementing two levels of machine lending programmes on which the Qwikloan is disbursed.
“We have been able to determine 6,000 to 7,000 people, who have defaulted on payment of their loans through these loan recovery measures,” he added.
According to him, AFB Ghana would continue to stay committed to its great customer experience agenda, secured digital solutions and robust credit controls by reviewing its mobile loan offering to build a sustainable commercial offering for the long-term, while maintaining focus on its deduction at source solutions provided to public sector employees.
“AFB Ghana hopes to conclude the transition of the brand to Letshego’s blue and yellow, a brand that represents 21 years of financial inclusion in Africa.”
By Brimah Mohammed