HFC Bank, a leading bank in home financing, has launched its 25 years anniversary as a successful pioneer of mortgage financing in the country.
The bank, which started as Home Finance Company, was mainly financed by the World Bank in 1988 as a special purpose vehicle to implement a housing financing scheme.
The bank has largely lived up to expectation as it has helped finance various housing and gated communities which opened up a lot of communities to business, including the now popular Spintex Road in Accra.
It was initially owned by the government, the Social Security and National Investment Trust (SSNIT) and Merchant Bank (now Universal Merchant Bank) with the objective of promoting a sustainable housing financing scheme in Ghana.
HFC was to operate as a secondary finance institution by providing long-term funds initially from the World Bank and SSNIT, and later through the issuance of bonds to primary mortgage lenders, mainly commercial banks.
The Board Chairperson of the Bank, Mrs Muriel Susan Edusei, speaking at the launch in Accra last week, said the board and management of HFC recognised very early in the life of the HFC project how it had to adopt innovative ways to make home finance suitable for the local market.
She said the concept of HFC being a secondary mortgage finance company providing long-term liquidity to commercial banks (primary market) was not feasible because the primary market was not developed and the commercial banks at the time did not consider the prevailing margins offered by the scheme attractive enough to commit resources to it.
“Today, HFC Bank commences the celebration of 25 years of operation; the last 12 years as a universal bank. After only 12 years of operation as a bank, HFC has emerged as one of the respected and strongest financial institutions in the country. The bank has made strides in terms of business growth and outreach. It is well positioned and ready to continue serving its customers and return good value to shareholders,” she added.
The Managing Director of the bank, Mr Asare Akuffo, said the bank had come thus far through the strong foundations laid by its founders, the culture of commitment, dedication, innovativeness and integrity from staff members of HFC.