ADB donates GH¢200,000 to COVID-19 Trust Fund

The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has presented a cheque for GH¢200,000 to the COVID-19 Trust Fund.

The Managing Director of the bank, Dr John Kofi Mensah, who presented the cheque, said the donation was part of the bank’s support package of GH¢1 million to help fight the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

“The rest of the money will be used in purchasing personal protective equipment (PPE) such as hand gloves, nose masks, hand sanitisers and other disinfectants to be distributed to medical research institutions, farmer-based organisations, the Ghana Police Service and selected regional hospitals,” he said.

Dr Mensah stated that the total contribution by the bank would exceed GH¢1 million, since it had already contributed to the GH¢10 million of the Ghana Bankers Association, waived all interbank transfer fees on the bank’s digital platforms and mobile wallet transaction fees below GH¢100.

 In addition, the bank had also reduced interest rate by 200 basis points as agreed by members of the GAB, the managing director said, adding that the bank would soon roll out a special package for farmers to reduce their burden in these difficult times.

“Currently, we have drastically reduced our workforce by about 52 per cent, all our branches have been mandated to buy hand sanitisers for their personal and customer use and also we are observing the social distancing protocol at all our meetings and daily interactions,” he said.

Commendable steps

Dr Mensah commended the government for the steps taken to deal with the pandemic and urged Ghanaians to also positively contribute towards ending the pandemic.

“We are optimistic that the measure being put in place by the government will yield the necessary results by reducing the numbers and life will return to normal soon,” he said.

The managing director was accompanied by the Deputy Managing Director, Mr Alhassan Yakubu-Tali, and a member of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mr George Abankwah-Yeboah.