Banks urged to finance agric

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GamAnk Group, Dr Ankrah, has challenged banks to device pragmatic strategies to extend their financing to the agricultural sector.

He said although the sector was considered high risk, its contribution to the economy could not be over looked, hence the need to support it.

Speaking at the launch of the 15th Ghana Banking Awards in Accra, Dr Ankrah challenged the banks to employ strategies that would ensure that farmers used funds judiciously to ensure food security in the long term.

"I urge the banks to employ experts in that area who will help advice farmers who borrow funds on how to invest to make positive returns. Such experts will also advice the banks on how to support the entire agriculture value chain," he said. 

He explained that much as the agricultural sector is considered a risky area, it could not be left unattended financially because it would continue to be the source of food production. 

"By this, the banks would be contributing their quota to ensure food security in the country while we export the excess to earn some foreign exchange to keep our cedi stable," he added.

Award categories

The Ghana Banking Awards is an annual event organised by Corporate Initiative Ghana (CIG). 

The theme for this year’s awards scheduled for August 2016, is “Fifteen years of Ghana Banking Awards: Enriching a Healthy Competitive Landscape in the Drive for Customer Relevance in Banking.”

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The Ghana Banking awards presently concentrate on the universal banks sub-sector. The time-frames for the awards cover all universal banks with published financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2015. 

Out of the current number of 29 universal banks, 28 qualify for the awards. There are fifteen plus two award categories identified and agreed upon by the technical committee. These include customer care, advisory services, trade finance, trade deal of the year and long term loan finance. 

The rest are retail banking, corporate banking, agriculture, forestry and fishing, product innovation, competitive pricing, corporate social responsibility, financial performance, bank growth and bank of the year. 

Other two awards exclusively given by the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GHiPSS) are the most active e-zwich bank and the bank that promotes cashless transactions. 

AGI

An Executive Member of the Association of Ghana Industries, Mrs Nora Bannerman Abbot, said one of the main challenges confronting the country's development was unemployment which was not only a socio - economic issue but a political -economic one. 

"Industrial growth is the only way out of unemployment and until we begin to deal with it with some urgency, solving it may be difficult. The private sector can help create the needed employment to lead to growth," she said.