UMB CEO, Nana Dwemoh Benneh (4th L) with CEO of Alisa Hotel Group, Mr. Kwame Ofosu Bamfo during the Bank’s key customer visits to mark its 50th-anniversary celebrations.
The leadership of the Universal Merchant Bank (UMB), a leading indigenous Ghanaian bank, led by the Chief Executive Officer, Nana Dwemoh Benneh, paid a courtesy call today on one of its pioneering customers – Mr. Kwame Ofosu Bamfo (CEO of Alisa Hotels) at their plush Alisa Hotel Tema site as part of its key customer visits to mark its 50th anniversary celebrations.
The special visit enabled the UMB team tour the new Alisa Hotel site with the leadership of Alisa Hotels. The multi-million-dollar project financed by UMB, is billed to be perhaps the only 5-star hotel in Tema. It is expected that Alisa Hotel Tema will raise hospitality in Ghana’s number 1 port city up to standard. Tema is a major commercial city in Ghana, with a port serving the Burkina Faso and Mali.
In his remarks during the special visit, CEO of UMB, Nana Dwemoh Benneh stated “This project reminds us all of our heritage and pride in building and growing indigenous Ghanaian Businesses, since 1972, by bringing a uniquely Ghanaian perspective to banking. UMB is therefore proud to have been bankers to Mr. Bamfo and his companies since 1990, and we are proud to have arranged the financing of this ground-breaking project in Tema – which is poised to be the most famous hotel in Tema in a generation, reminiscent of the glory days of the Meridien Hotel.”
Mr. Kwame Ofosu Bamfo, Chairman of Alisa Hotels in his statement said “UMB has been a right partner through thick and thin, believing that a Ghanaian business like ours can make it. Together with UMB, we have created 650 sustainable jobs within the period of our partnership and we are extremely proud to be on the cusp of launching this project, navigating it through COVID-19 and other rough patches during the project cycle. We are very proud of this achievement as this 5-star hotel, the first in Tema in a generation, is a triumph for us and all Ghanaian businesses.
Alisa Hotels, is a wholly -owned Ghanaian hospitality franchise, established in 1998. The group is poised to open perhaps the plushest hotel in Tema in a few weeks, filling in a gap that industry watchers indicate has existed since the collapse of the famous Meridian Hotel.
The site visit was undertaken by Mr. Kwame Ofosu Bamfo, Chairman and CEO of the Alisa Group of Hotels; Mr. Kwame Ofosu Bamfo, Mr. Abankwah Yeboah, Marteykor Quaye and Stephen Mulu Nzavi from the Alisa Hotel group and Nana Dwemoh Benneh, Nii Amankra Tetteh, Philemon Okyere Danquah, Rejoice Akuffo and Edward Asafu- Adjaye from UMB.
Universal Merchant Bank (UMB), was established in 1972, to provide indigenous merchant banking to Ghana. UMB is reputed to be one of the few banks in Ghana with a dedicated hospitality and Tourism desk in its corporate banking offering. The Bank has been serving Alisa Hotels since 1998 and is on record to have financed all the major expansion project of Alisa Hotels.