Business advisory centres for Ashanti
Kwabeng
(Eastern Region) 24 September 2001 - The Bank of Ghana (BOG) will maintain its
policy of supporting the development and growth of efficient rural banks, Mr
Joseph B. Clottey, Acting Head, Banking Supervision Department, said on
Saturday.
He
therefore urged directors and management of rural banks to operate within the
rules and regulations provided by the Central Bank to guide their activities.
Mr Clottey
told the 13th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Atiwa Rural Bank at Kwabeng
in the East Akyem District of the Eastern Region and commended the bank for its
remarkable achievements over the years.
He further
urged the bank to take advantage of the improving macro-economic environment to
realign its operations to further enhance its overall results.
Mr Clottey
advised the board and management of the bank to put in place measures to
improve the performance of the bank's human resource base through capacity
building to enable the staff to rise up to rising challenges.
The
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Nana Apau Ampadu, in his
report, said the bank made a net profit of 153.9 million cedis in its
operations last year, as against 58.6 million cedis, representing an increase
of 162.4 per cent.
Total
deposits rose from 2.1 billion cedis to 3.2 billion cedis during the same
period while the bank's investment increased from 1.215 billion cedis to 2.102
billion cedis.
Nana Ampadu
said loans and advances amounted to 540 million cedis while the Akuafo Cheques
purchased last year totalled 2.1 billion cedis as compared to 967 million cedis
in 1999.
The
Chairman said out of 60.754 million cedis disbursed under the Poverty Alleviation
Fund on behalf of the East Akyem District Assembly, only 17.7 million cedis had
been paid, and appealed to defaulters to pay back the monies.
Nana Ampadu
said the bank would ensure that its liquidity position is improved through
intensive mobilisation strategies and customer satisfaction while credit
facilities would continue to be sought from various organisations for
micro-finance projects to improve credit delivery to its customers.
GRi../
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Kumasi
(Ashanti Region) 24 September 2001- The National Board for Small-Scale
Industries (NBSSI) is to open Business Advisory Centres (BAC) in all the 18 districts
of the Ashanti Region by the end of 2002 to offer advice, training and
extension services to small-scale businessmen and women.
Mr Saeed
Owusu-Brobbey, Ashanti Regional Manager of the NBSSI, said the board has
already established BACs at Offinso, Ejura-Sekyedumase, Afigya-Sekyere, Sekyere
East and West Districts.
He told the
closing session of a four-day seminar on business planning and management
appreciation organised jointly by the Kumasi office of the BAC and Ghana Food
Crops Processors Association in Kumasi last Friday.
It was to
assist some 25 small-scale food processors to improve on their entrepreneurial
and managerial skills to ensure the growth and survival of their businesses.
Mr
Owusu-Brobbey said the government was very much concerned with the development
of small-scale business enterprises because of their role in national economic
growth, and advised small-scale entrepreneurs not to hesitate to contact the
BAC for assistance.
GRi../
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