Sonzele Rural Bank Limited improves financial performance
Sonzele Rural Bank Limited, headquartered at Jirapa in the Upper West Region, posted a profit of GH¢2.1 million as of the end of December 31, 2022.
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This represents a 29 per cent increase over the 2021 figure of GH¢1.6 million.
The Board Chairman of the Bank, Michael Zusain, disclosed this at the 33rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of shareholders of the bank at Jirapa last Saturday.
“The share capital of the bank as of the year under review stood at GH¢2 million compared with the Bank of Ghana set minimum capital of GH¢1 million for Rural and Community Banks (RCBs),” he stated.
Mr Zusain expressed satisfaction with the performance of the bank which will be celebrating its 40th anniversary next year, explaining that the bank’s achievement of 29 per cent in its operating income indicated that the future was bright.
From a humble beginning, the bank can now boast of four other branches namely Nadowli, Lambussie, Wa and Hain.
This, he said, can be attributed to the provision of quality service to the customers and investment in training programmes for its staff to improve on quality service delivery.
He urged all potential customers who are not yet with the bank to come and experience its unique products.
Ranking
Mr Zusain announced that the bank ranked the second best out of the 145 RCBs during the 2023 overall performance review throughout the country.
The Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Alex Awuah, in a speech read on his behalf, announced the arrival of a mobile banking solution that will enable customers of the RCBs to access a wider range of banking services similar to what pertained to the commercial banks.
He said the new product was in the with phase of the USSD Application being testrun with over 2,000 customers.
Corporate Social Responsibility
The Member of Parliament for the Jirapa, Cletus Seidu Dapilah, called on Directors of the RCBs to set aside a bigger budget for corporate social responsibility and invest in life-changing projects to the satisfaction of the people and not just organise events.
He mentioned such projects as libraries, scholarships, refurbishment of schools, and clinics and the provision of boreholes, among others.
These investments, he said, would win their confidence, improve their services and serve as a crucial link to attract more clients to access their banking services.
Mr Seidu Dapilah noted that the performance of the Sonzele Rural Bank in the past years has been “excellent and marvellous”, and urged the management and board to keep it up.
He called on the bank to improve its services since the big banks continue to lure their customers with their improved services and products.