Ghana International Bank (GHIB) has entered into a strategic collaboration with Vista Bank Group to improve access to global trade finance and correspondent banking services for clients across West Africa.
The agreement was announced at the CNVERGE ’25 conference in London on August 11, and formalised through a signing ceremony positioning GHIB as the primary correspondent banking partner for Vista Bank’s operations in Gambia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Guinea.
Under the partnership, GHIB will leverage its long-standing international banking relationships to provide Vista Bank’s clients—particularly small and medium enterprises—with access to trade finance, cross-border payments and international credit lines.
“This partnership represents a tangible expression of our commitment to be Africa’s bridge to international finance and correspondent banking,” GHIB Chief Executive Officer, Dean Adansi, said at the event. “We provide African Banking Groups like Vista the critical access for funding, international trade finance and global payments that allows for expansion and growth. We have kept faith in providing this access to Africa since 1959, and are honoured to now deliver the same to the Vista Group.”
Vista Bank Group operates as a pan-African financial services organisation, with a focus on SME banking, trade finance, leasing services and bancassurance. Its Managing Director in France, Serge Raymond, described the partnership as transformative.
“Ghana International Bank has become our gateway to the global financial system. Where other international banks have been unable to provide the access we need, GHIB has demonstrated genuine commitment to African development through practical banking solutions,” he said. “This partnership enables us to serve the backbone of African economies—the SMEs in Banjul, Dakar, Freetown, Ouagadougou, and Conakry—with world-class trade finance capabilities.”
The initiative is designed to close critical gaps in African trade finance, where regional banks have often struggled to secure international correspondent services. Through GHIB’s “TradeBridge” framework, Vista Bank’s clients will gain access to letters of credit, trade guarantees, foreign exchange services and international payment processing.
Mr Adansi stressed that the collaboration symbolises the bank’s pan-African vision. “At GHIB, we recognise no artificial divisions within Africa. This partnership with Vista Bank Group demonstrates that African financial institutions can collaborate effectively across linguistic and cultural boundaries to create sophisticated banking solutions that serve our continent’s development priorities.”
The agreement also aligns with GHIB’s broader continental strategy to promote financial integration across Africa, building on its existing presence in Ghana, Gambia and Guinea.
Both institutions expect the partnership to significantly strengthen trade finance across the region, boost intra-African trade and support the objectives of financial inclusion and economic integration.
The announcement was made during CNVERGE ’25, GHIB’s flagship thought-leadership conference, which this year focused on “Rethinking Commodity Finance for Growth.”