Apex bank for Rural Banks to be established soon
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 May 2000
An Apex Bank, aimed at supporting rural banks will be established on 1 December, this year, Mr E. K. Kwapong, General Manager of the Apex Technical Secretariat, said on Saturday.
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Mr Kwapong, who was addressing the second sensitisation seminar of the Association of Rural Banks (ARB) in Accra, said branches of the bank will be opened in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, and Bolgatanga between March and December 2001 and a sixth branch at Sunyani on 1 February 2002.
He mentioned key factors leading to the establishment of the Apex Bank as operational inefficiencies within the rural banking system, low capital base, poor quality staff, poor image of rural banks and fraudulent practices and dishonesty among staff.
Mr Kwapong was optimistic that the bank, when established, would support rural banks by providing them with cheque clearing and financial services, among others. This, he said, would help to improve the income of rural banks, reduce costs, improve their public image and lead to better customer services.
The bank's operation would be fully computerised to enable it to network with all rural banks and make transfer of
information from one rural bank to another very easy.
Mr J. B. Yirerong, national Secretary of ARB, mentioned institutions that would contribute financially towards the Apex Bank/Rural Financial Services Project as the Government of Ghana, World Bank and the African Development Bank.
He said each rural bank would contribute towards the capital base of Apex Bank. Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, Director of ARB, said after the setting up of APEX Bank, the ARB would play an advocacy role. This, would be done by developing appropriate media strategies to further improve the image of rural banks and support policies that would ensure their development.
The ARB would build linkages with other micro finance providers like the Association of Ghana Industries (AIG) and the National Board for Small-Scale Industries to strengthen the capital base of rural banks.
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PSC
Tema Shipyard Restructuring
Accra (Greater Accra) 08 May 2000
The PSC Tema Shipyard Limited has re-called its former Managing Director, Mr Raihan Omar as a first step towards a thorough management restructuring exercise of the company.
The action is also aimed at turning around the yard's deteriorating performance as quickly as possible in addition to upgrading facilities and equipment, a statement issued in Accra on Friday said.
The statement explained that Mr Omar spearheaded the initial take-over of the yard in 1997 and engineered its initial turnaround before being recalled to Malaysia in 1998. He replaces Mr Salim Kasim, the incumbent with effect from Friday, 5 May.
With his re-appointment, Mr Omar would be "tasked with engineering a total restructuring of the yard's business and operations involving human resource rationalisation at all levels, financial support arrangements as well as the upgrading and modernisation of facilities.
"It is expected that with his appointment, a totally restructured management team, committed towards the immediate turnaround of the yard's business and performance will be put in place effectively," the statement added.
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