First Allied Savings and Loans Limited disbursed a total of GH¢106 million as credit to support its clientele, mostly small and micro-enterprises (SMEs) across the country as of January 2015.
The move, according to the company, was to enable them to expand their businesses.
In the same period under review, the financial institution was able to mobilise a total of GH¢260 million as deposits from its customers, while the asset of the bank also stood at GH¢164 million with a customer base of 142,000 nationwide.
The Board Chairman of First Allied, Nana Yaw Oduro, disclosed this during the official opening of the Tamale branch at Aboabo, a suburb in the Tamale Metropolis.
This brings the number of branches of First Allied across the country to 23, with the Tamale branch being the first to be opened in the northern part of the country.
The savings and loans company donated GH¢10,000 to support the Dakpema-Naa Education Foundation.
Nana Oduro, in his address, said First Allied would continue to introduce tailor-made services to meet the needs of SMEs and also help them grow.
He stated that First Allied decided to extend its services to Tamale since the city was the commercial hub of the three northern regions in order to reach out to the unbanked in the northern sector of the country with its innovative products to meet all income levels.
A representative of the Bank of Ghana (BOG), Bishop Fredrick France, said the BOG would continue to play its regulatory role in the financial sector and called on the public to be wary of unlicensed microfinance institutions that promised them higher returns on their deposits, sometimes as high as 50 to100 per cent per month.
"In spite of stories of several people who have lost their hard-earned savings through the collapse of such institutions, many of us are still attracted by the high returns only to be duped or cheated by these unscrupulous persons," he stated.
"As the Bank of Ghana plays its regulatory role in closing down such unlicensed microfinance institutions, let us be vigilant not to become victims of their schemes. Let us make it difficult for such rogues to take advantage of the banking system. Let us report them early," Bishop France stated.
The Chief Operating Officer (COO) of First Allied, Mr Edward Lamptey, said First Allied was in Tamale to extend its financial services to businesses and individuals for them to have access to affordable, convenient and value-added financial services for the growth of their businesses and improvement of their livelihoods.