New Board of Directors for ADB inaugurated

The number of directors of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has dropped following the annulment of four institutional shareholders in the bank by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) last month.

The four companies are Starmount Company Limited, EDC Investment, SIC Financial Services and Belstar Company Limited.

According to the BoG, the shares of those companies were annulled because they purchased them under suspicious circumstances.

New capital requirement
Speaking at the inauguration of a new board for the ADB on Wednesday, August 29, 2018, the Board Chairman, Mr Alex Bernasko, said the bank would meet the new minimum capital requirement by December this year.

He said that would follow an aggressive pursuit of all outstanding loans due the bank, adding: “We are drawing up a recapitalisation plan. In fact, we had one, but with all the things happening, we need to fine-tune as we go along.

“One area that will help us a lot is recovery; we have so many non-performing assets out there. If we do very aggressive and extensive recovery, retrieving these funds which are out there will make it very easy for us to meet the capitalisation, but I’m confident we will meet the GH¢400 million by the end of this year,” he said.

Those removed

As a result of the annulment of the shares, six former directors were removed. They are Mr Patrick Kingsley-Nyinah, Mr Kwabena Dapaah-Siakwan, Nana Ama Serwaa Bonsu, Mr Frank Kwame Osei, Dr Adu Anane Antwi and Prof. David Abdulai.

New board members

Those removed have since been replaced by Dr Mark Assibey-Yeboah, Madam Abena Osei-Asare, Prof. Peter Quartey, Mr Kwesi Korboe and Madam Mary Abla Kessie.

The three members who remained from the old board are Mr Bernasko, Mr George Kwabena Abankwa Yeboah and Dr John Kofi Mensah, the MD of the bank.

Core mandate

Speaking at the inauguration, a Deputy Finance Minister, Mr Charles Adu Boahen, charged the board to work to achieve its core mandate of supporting the growth of Ghana’s agricultural sector.

“Although the ADB remains the leading financial institution in agricultural financing in the country, its total credit to the sector has reduced over the last four years, while its credit to the services sector has increased over the same period,” he observed.