‘Mobile phones, hope for the banking sector’
Ghana’s high level of mobile penetration provides an avenue for banks to tap into the huge unbanked population, the Deputy Managing Director of Sahel Sahara Bank, Dr Kojo Aboagye-Debrah, has said.
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“Many industry players think we are overbanked; this is not so with Sahel Sahara Bank. The financial depth in Ghana is still low (below 50 per cent) as compared to countries like South Africa; this means there are opportunities here in Ghana for banks to grow,” he told the Daily Graphic.
In a message to mark the country’s 59th Independence Day anniversary, he said what would drive banking going forward was speed, accessibility and convenience.
Mobile penetration
The country’s mobile voice penetration, according to the National Communication Authority (NCA) figures, is at 115.64 per cent as at the end of March last year.
“Speed is driven by technology and that is mobile banking. All payments are going to go through the phone like, tickets, fuel, money transfer and the thinking is to do business through this channel while you maintain stability around Corporate Banking.”
The Sahel journey
Many financial institutions entered the Ghanaian market with pomp and circumstance and aggressively pushed for brand visibility within the shortest time but Sahel Sahara Bank’s approach was one of the most silent entrances onto the Ghanaian banking landscape.
Eight years ago the bank began operations but until 2014, not many Ghanaians knew of the bank. Today, the bank is assiduously working to achieve visibility, strength, liquid balance sheet and sustained growth for the future.
With presence in 13 other African countries, the bank has, over the last two years been pursuing a Pan-African agenda that is aimed at supporting businesses in Ghana and the continent to access funds and financial services.
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“We started on the quiet but over the last two years we have set an agenda to brand as a Pan-African bank. We are a part of 14 affiliates across the continent largely in the Francophone region but we have operations in Libya, Sudan, and the Gambia too.
“We are more positioned as a Pan-African bank so going forward this is what we want to harness and let people know that we are instituted to drive trade and investment across Africa,” Dr Aboagye-Debrah said.
On the bank’s progress, he said it had been an interesting journey over the last two years and the bank was looking forward with a lot of optimism.
The bank has seen some aggressive growth over the past two years. The balance sheet size has doubled with significant improvement in profits.
“We have positioned ourselves strategically and we have now chalked up these successes.”
In the third quarter of 2014, the bank realigned its business units to the sectors of the economy. Through segmentation into four key areas of Corporate, Commercial, SME and Retail Banking services, a total banking solution agenda has been championed.
“We live in an environment where you can’t control revenue but cost so if the cost of energy is hitting your business, through the use of generators, then you need to cut cost elsewhere. Our cost cutting measures have seen us save 25 per cent of our budget meant for expenditure.”
Banking industry
“Additionally the bank is in the process changing its banking application from Smart Bank to Amplitude Banking application to deliver on this value proposition. It is a strategic decision because we want to deliver excellent customer service.”
Currently there are some challenges in the economy, however, the long-term prospects of the economy look very promising,” he stated.
He said the bank would, therefore, continue to support the government for the growth of the Ghanaian economy. BSIC Ghana will ensure to use its dividends to support the productive sectors of the economy in this regard,” he added.