21st Annual CEOs’ Conference of Rural and Community banks commence, banks urged to keep the good work and be more strategic

The 21st annual CEOs conference for rural and community banks has kicked off  in the Volta Regional capital, Ho, with lots of interesting activities lined up for the weekend. 

Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi, who was the special guest of honor noted that over the years the RCB CEOs’ Conference has provided a unique forum for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and brainstorming to promote the interests of the rural and community banking industry as well as to strengthen standards of practice in the rural communing banking community.

Mrs. Awadzi noted this year, “this conference is taking place at a crucial era in the global economy as well as in our domestic economy , with the fallout from the Covid 19 pandemic and the recent Russian –Ukraine war.”

”Against the Backdrop of a slowdown in global economic growth and accommodative fiscal and monetary policies, we have seen high rates of inflation, high interest rates and tighter financing conditions all around the world and for our domestic economy, RCB customers have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic and its aftermath “ Mrs Elsie Addo Awadzi said.

She noted the situation has implications for credit risk and overall financial performance of the industry, the role of the RCB industry in the economy has been significant, providing critical financial services to the MSME sector, the informal sector and the low income households.

“Indeed, the RCB sector currently comprising 147 Rural Community Banks remain one of the key pillars of financial inclusion in Ghana with some 8 million depositors and over 6 million loan customers,“ Mrs. Awadzi said.

 She noted that the rural and community bank business models continue to evolve from the initial business models pioneered in 1976 when the first RCB licenses were issued by the Bank of Ghana and are increasingly gradually embracing automation and strong governance and its risk management’  

Mrs. Else Addo Awadzi noted there is  however more room for improvement for the RCB sector to be strategically positioned to play a more significant role in their catchment areas and in Ghana’s sustainable economic transformation.

She noted RCBs will therefore need to augment their capital base as needed in order to deploy more sophisticated systems and structures in line with the Bank of Ghana’s cyber and information security directive.

The Managing Director for the ARB APEX Bank, Mr Kwasi Awuah  in his remarks noted that with the theme for the conference this year ‘positioning rural banking at the Centre of financial services delivery in Ghana, the role of the stakeholders, certainly means that as a nation and the entire world begins to weather the storm beyond the Covid 19 pandemic.

By redesigning and integrating their systems to help cope and live with the effects of the pandemic , rural community banks [RCBs] need to be realigned and positioned to become more resilient in the face of economic  uncertainties facing the world

“The current theme certainly means that as the nation and the entire world begins to weather the storm beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, by redesigning and integrating their systems to help them cope and live with the after effects of the Pandemic, Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) need to be realigned and positioned to become more resilient in the face of the economic uncertainties facing the world” Mr Awuah said

Mr. Awuah noted that the Bank of Ghana Rural Banking concept with the establishment of the first RCB at Nyakrom in the Central Region in 1976 with the view to bridging the rural financial intermediation gap.

However, almost fifty years down the line, he said, the gap remains palpable, on the one hand, due to no fault of the rural banks, but on the other because we have not fully embraced and integrated the tools needed to help us bridge the yawning gap between those who have access to financial services and the unbanked population.

”I believe firmly that with the advent of digitalization and the growth in financial technology (Fintech) solutions, we must fully embrace the digital revolution by deploying the right products and services to fill this yawning gap in our RCBs’ sub-sector. We, at ARB Apex Bank are confident that we can close this gap through digital solutions such as the Agency Banking, Mobile Banking, and the Internet Banking Project, which would soon be implemented” Mr Awuah said

He noted that they  have completed the bidding process and received ‘no objection’ from the World Bank and the  Ministry of Finance and the service providers would soon sign the contract for work to begin adding that as soon as contracts are signed, full implementation of this important World Bank and Government of Ghana supported project would commence in earnest.

“We require the full cooperation and participation of all CEOs to help in the implementation of the project, which is of strategic importance to the economy of Ghana as far as financial inclusion is concerned” he said

He noted that to re-emphasize the importance of providing digital banking services and give it project focus, they have set up a dedicated Digital Banking Unit as part of our new strategic initiatives and hope that this will give fresh impetus to expand our service platforms and increase financial access in our communities.

Mr Alex Kwasi reminded the CEOs that they are the guarantors of the good performance, success, and sustainability of your banks and therefore, need to constantly deploy strategies to prevent assets of your banks from deteriorating, and forestall your banks sliding into distressed status.

The Oti Volta President of the association, Mr Larry Kwesi Jiagge in his remarks noted  with the presence of the second deputy governor , Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi,  there is  the assurance of the  Bank of Ghana attaches utmost importance to the growth and sustainability of the Rural and Community Banks [RCBs], “her presence here this morning gives me a firm assurance that the Bank of Ghana attaches utmost importance to the growth and sustainability of the Rural and Community Banks (RCBs)Mr Jiagge said

Mr Jiagge on behalf of his colleagues pleaded with the second deputy governor to use her good offices and the weight her position carries to help them retrieve their locked up funds from the securities and exchange [SEC] commission regulated institutions.

“ The locked-up funds are seriously affecting the operations of the RCBs. Governor, please help us retrieve the funds to help shore up the liquidity and the financial strength of our banks” Mr. Jiagge said said

The Two day program had presentations from topics like understanding gender based violence and harassment in the workplace, how to manage a model rural community bank among others

Source: Ghana News