Christian Community Microfinance Limited (CCML), the oldest microfinance company in the country which celebrated its 35th anniversary this year, is opening the business up for equity participation.
CCML’s business turnover has outgrown the microfinance coverage so it now wants to operate as a savings and loans company.
Indeed with the saturation of the upper and middle market segments, CCML’s business model has made it an attractive proposition for partnership by the bigger banks and already, some banks have expressed interest in the company
CCML is wholly owned by the member churches and organisations under the Christian Council of Ghana and was established in 1979 as ECLOF (Ecumenical Loan Fund), an NGO, by ECLOF of Geneva, Switzerland.
It was transformed from an NGO to a limited liability company just two years ago but it has established itself as a very well managed pro-poor financial services provider.
CCML believes that for the Ghanaian economy to grow, all those who need financial services must have access to finance close to where they live or operate and at affordable pricing. The company’s operations are largely based on the Financial Inclusion Model.
The 100 per cent share shareholder, the Christian Council of Ghana and its Geneva-based Ecumenical partners have both given approval for the acceptance of offers from outside the member churches to boost the company’s capital, to enable it acquire a savings and loans licence to deepen its pro-poor services to the Ghanaian communities in the 25 locations in which it operates throughout the five regions of Ghana.
Through its many value propositions, CCML offers a wide range of other products and is at the forefront of serving the needs of churches, educational institutions, mass market consumers and some small businesses. It also hopes to deepen the business in these segments.
CCML is managed by a first-class and very experienced team led by Naa Odey Asante, the Managing Director. “We are very efficient, well structured and we operate with a robust and very modern ICT platform which enables us delight our clients. Our call centre enables us to listen to our clients from every part of the country and promptly respond to their needs, all with the view to giving them hope beyond finance,” Naa Odey said.
Asked whether the company was not worried about diluting the shareholding of the Christian Council of Ghana, the Board Chairman, Mr Albert Essamuah, an environmental planner and architect, said the offer was purely a business proposition and believed it should make the CCML bigger and stronger to compete. “These are the first steps to transforming CCML into a strong bank in the future,” he said.
Other board members, include: Professor Philip Bondzie-Simpson, Professor and Founding Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Cape Coast University; Ben Korley, a chartered accountant; Rev. Dr Fred Deegbe, immediate past General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana and an investment lawyer; Yaw Brantuo, a Banker and Financial Consultant and Dr.Willing Vanderpuije, a Banker and Financial Services Marketer.
The are all committed to the equity participation.