Banks must focus on business start-ups

At the weekend, Ecobank Ghana emerged winner of the coveted Bank of the Year at the 14th Ghana Banking Awards held in Accra under the auspices of Corporate Initiative Ghana (CIG).

The bank, which also won two other major categories, Best Bank in Financial Performance and Best Bank in Enterprise Finance, was also named first and second runners-up in five other categories.

The awards night also witnessed some major surprises as The Royal Bank also swept for the first time, six major awards to stamp its authority and position itself as the bank to watch in the coming years.

As we celebrate the winners of the night for their sterling and outstanding performances in the year past, the paper will also want to congratulate the banks that did not win any awards for their contribution to the development of the financial services sector in the country, and wish them better luck for the next award year.

The role of banking in a nation’s development cannot be overemphasised because it serves as the oil that powers the turbines of the economy. It is, therefore, crucial for banks to set their eyes on all sectors of the economy, particularly those with the best value-addition potential and desist from focusing on only areas where they could make quick money and record huge profits.

There is no doubt that as private institutions, managers of the banks are enjoined to make profit and increase their shareholders’ value. Unfortunately, in their quest to do so, they tend to neglect areas within the economy that have enormous potential for growth, once they are supported financially.

One critical area that deserves the attention of the banks is start-ups. Most of the time, the banks have argued about the high risks associated with such areas, without recourse to the fact that businesses have starting points and have to be supported to reach the heights they aspire to.

It is for this reason that the GRAPHIC BUSINESS associates itself with the advice given to the banks at this year’s awards by Dr Sam Ankrah, the Chief Executive Officer of African Investment Group and Gam-Ank, who was the special guest speaker.

“I would like to see more business start-ups access funds locally from our industry using proven methods like structured finance approach without the need for a collateral and other securities, which are insurmountable barriers to the much-needed funds”, he said.
It is widely accepted that start-ups are very useful to the development of economies and when supported to grow, the chief beneficiaries are the banks.

The paper is also at home with Dr Ankrah’s call for organisers of the banking awards to consider a new category to reward the banks that support start-ups.

The GRAPHIC BUSINESS therefore supports the call for banks to help grow the neglected areas of the economy by supporting innovative start-ups to grow their businesses.

Once again, we say ‘ayeeko’ to the winners and urge all banks to continue to innovate and embrace new knowledge with open minds and implement new ideas with courage and all the seriousness they deserve.

This way, we can make banking meaningful to all segments of the society and the challenge of promoting financial inclusion will naturally fall in place. — GB