Mr. Ismael Adam
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has called for stronger collaboration among stakeholders as it works towards the introduction of Non-Interest banking aimed at expanding financial inclusion across the country.
Director for Banking Supervision Department of the Central Bank, Ismail Adam, made the call on behalf of the Governor, Dr. Johnson Asiama, during a training workshop for banks on Non-Interest banking and Finance, in Accra.
He noted that the introduction of Non- Interest banking will help attract new sources of investment, and diversify the financial system.
He said, “Let us work together, the regulator and industry to build governance capacity required for a thriving, resilient, and inclusive Non-Interest banking sector in Ghana.”
“The capacity to implement it successfully must be built deliberately and collaboratively,” he added.
He also indicated that conventional banking and finance is largely debt-based and interest-rate-driven while non-interest banking is largely asset-backed, risk-bearing, risk-sharing, profit and loss sharing and in some cases, loss bearing.
He, therefore, called on the banks to put high premium on skills development of its staff including building compactible systems to drive the practice of non-interest banking in the country.
He also urged the operators of banks to support the development of human resource capacities of staff by investing in aggressive knowledge acquisition and partner with local and international, Non-Interest Banks, institutions and established training bodies to develop rigorous training programmes.
He encouraged the banks to patronise the programme rolled out by the Chartered Institute of Bankers on Non-Interest banking and Finance Certification for bankers.
That, he explained will go a long way to build the required capacity for the industry while initiating technology audits to review their systems to assess the level of upgrade or integration required to support Non- Interest banking.
“Develop a phased implementation plan, do not wait for the final guideline to start planning. Begin developing your business case, identifying target markets, and designing a phased roll-out plan for initial products,” he noted.
He also urged the banks to restructure their product, consider risk management, understanding and experience in the products that will be rolled out.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah