Wenchi Rural Bank makes profit

"I must emphasise that most banking experts told us that by convention we were to record our first profit after five years of operations but through dint of hard work we were able to record profit in our second year of operations", he said.

The Board Chairman said the total assets of the bank also grew from GH¢1,985,072 in 2011 to GH¢3,973,657 for the year under review which represent an increase of almost 100 per cent while total deposits also grew from GH¢1,872,024 in 2011 to GH¢3,630,590 representing an increase of 93 per cent.

Mr Odame-Darkwa said the bank granted loans to the tune of GH¢2,437,894 in the year 2012 which represent an increment of 138 per cent granted in 2011, adding that the bank's credit team was able to appraise, disburse and achieve above 98 per cent recovery rate during the year under review.

He said the bank's share capital also rose from GH¢163,185 in 2011 to GH¢164,825 in 2012, he therefore appealed to all shareholders to increase their shareholding to make the financial position of the bank very strong.

Mr Odame-Darkwa noted that the bank would continue to work hard to maintain a highly qualified staff and its customers to make a difference in the rural banking industry.

He announced that the bank had earmarked a total of GH¢3million to support 4,000 women engaged in agriculture and other income generating activities in its catchment areas in the Brong Ahafo and Northern regions, this year.

The move is to help inculcate the culture of savings in rural women and reduce poverty in the bank's catchment areas and the country as a whole.

He said  last year  the bank supported 1, 500 women in both the Brong Ahafo and Northern regions with GH¢1.5million  under its micro finance programme aimed mainly at rural women and the active poor in its catchment areas and hoped to assist 4,000 women this year under the scheme.

Mr Odame-Darkwa said it was the vision of the bank to use micro finance as  a tool to reduce poverty in its catchment areas and the country as a whole, hence the bank's decision to extend attractive and affordable credit facilities to women and the active poor in its areas of operations.

The board chairman of the bank said the bank had as its vision to use micro finance as a tool to reduce poverty in Brong Ahafo and Ghana as a whole.

He said the bank was given approval by the Bank of Ghana to commence business in June, 2012 but did not start full operations  until September of that year, adding that the bank now had over 14,000 clients as of December 31,  2012.

Mr Odame-Darkwa stated further that the bank's operations cut across the Brong Ahafo and Northern region and its micro finance programme covered five districts in the Brong Ahafo Region and one district in the Northern Region.

Mr Mark Odoi Adjei, the acting Manager of the Sunyani branch of the ARB Apex Bank, who read an address on behalf of the Managing Director of the bank,  Mr Kwadwo Aye Kusi, urged the management of the bank to continue to retrain and train staff and also develop more micro finance products in order to remain competitive in the rural banking industry.

He further urged management to put in place strong internal control measures and  Information, Communication Technology (ICT) security system to prevent fraud and embezzlement which had been the bane of most rural banks in the country.

Mr Kusi commended the shareholders,  management and staff of the bank for their impressive performance in recording profit in its second year of operations and expressed the hope that they would not rest on their oars.

The President of the Brong Ahafo Regional Chapter of the Association of Rural Banks, Mr Joseph Benjamin Boakye Boateng, urged management and staff of the bank to update their knowledge in the industry in order to remain competitive and strive to pay dividend regularly to shareholders.

He advised management of the bank to put in place a sustainability and profitability plan in order to remain in business and face the stiff  competition in the banking industry.

Story by Samuel Duodu