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Banks’ story of resilience in 2020 Industry financial review This 2020 financial performance review of the banking sector covers 21 out of the 23 licensed commercial banks. Not included in the review are National Investment Bank (NIB) and OmniBSIC, whose 2020 financial statements were not available at the time of preparing this report. Pre- and Post-Tax Profits Despite the pandemic, banks made more money in 2020 compared to 2019. Pre-tax profit increased by GH¢1.1bn (23.1 percent) to GH¢6.1bn last year. The growth was fuelled by a strong increase in total income and moderate growth in total expense, despite a spike in provisions for credit losses. After paying an effective income tax rate of 29.5 percent, the industry’s post-tax profit stood at GH¢4.3bn, GH¢0.8bn above the GH¢3.5bn it earned in 2019. Each of the 21 banks covered in this review posted a net profit
after tax in 2020, with the net profit margins ranging from 0.5 percent to 48.1 percent. The industry net profit margin stood at 29.1 percent, an improvement on the 2018 outturn of 28 percent. Return on Equity and Assets Return on equity, which shows how well banks produce profits from employing shareholders’ funds, improved marginally in 2020, rising by 20 basis points from the prior year to 19 percent. In 2018 return on equity was 17.1 percent. Return on assets, which compares net profit to the stock of assets, also improved by 20 basis points, as it increased from 2.8 percent in 2019 to 3 percent in 2020. In 2018 return on assets stood at 2.6 percent. Total Revenue Banks grew revenue by 17.9 percent to GH¢14.8bn in 2020. Although this growth is 580
Other revenues GHc0.3m
Trading revenue GHc1.95bn
Fees and commissions GHc1.90bn
Total revenue GHc14.76bn
Net interest revenue GHc10.62bn
basis points below the growth of 23.7 percent in 2019, it is a remarkable figure given the pandemic. It is also significantly better than the 8 percent growth recorded in 2018 amid the shake-up of the sector by the regulator. Net interest revenue— the money banks earn from investments and loans less the interest they pay on deposits and borrowings—is traditionally the biggest source of industry revenue. As such, its growth tends to drive the growth of total revenue. Twenty-twenty was no different, as net interest revenue grew by 22.3 percent to GH¢10.6bn, while non-interest revenue grew by 8 percent to approximately GH¢4.1bn. Although total revenue was resilient to the rough operating environment which the pandemic precipitated, there was a marked effect of the pandemic situation on fees and commissions revenue, which grew at a considerably lower rate of 5.1 percent (to GH¢1.9bn) in 2020 as against
14.6 percent in 2019. This can be explained by weak growth in the volumes of loans and fee-based transactions, as well as some fee waivers which the industry granted to customers—like that for mobile money transactions in the initial months of the pandemic. Trading revenue—the other key non-interest revenue stream—grew by 12.2 percent (to approximately GH¢2bn), underperforming its growth of 34 percent the year before. Trading revenue is the money banks make from trading financial instruments like currencies, bonds, and derivatives. Other operating revenue— which comprises incomes from miscellaneous sources including rent, sale of property, and dividends—increased by 1 percent to GH¢296.1m. This virtually flat outturn cannot be pinned on any specific factor as this element of total income is usually unpredictable from year to year.
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Total Non-Interest Expense The components of noninterest expense are personnel costs, provision for loan losses, depreciation and amortization, and other operating expenses. Usually, in an economic downturn—such as the one experienced in 2020—when business activity slows, banks see a rise in credit defaults and bad loans, which they partially offset through charges, known as provisions, on their revenue. This development was the key driver of non-interest expense last year, as banks increased provisions for credit losses by 33.4 percent (to GH¢1.3bn), reflecting an expected growth in problem loans. In sharp contrast, loan loss provisions increased by just 2 percent to approximately GH¢1bn in 2019. Despite the spike in credit loss
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provisions, total non-interest expense grew at a slower rate in 2020 (14.6 percent) compared to 2019 (17.4 percent). This reflected tight control of the other components of expense, which rose by 11.7 percent in 2020 compared to 20.1 percent in 2019. Thanks to this, the industry efficiency ratio—which measures the cost incurred (apart from interest expense) to produce a cedi of revenue—improved to 58.8 percent from 60.5 percent in 2019. Total Assets The stock of assets as at December 2020 was GH¢144.8bn, up GH¢21.5bn or 17.5 percent from the previous year. Of the GH¢21.5bn added to assets, GH¢14.6 billion—that is, two-thirds—was added to debt
securities, reflecting a flight to safety as banks adopted a cautious stance on lending given the elevated credit risks linked to the economic slowdown. By the end of December 2020, banks held GH¢64bn worth of debt securities—mostly government instruments—approximately 30 percent more than they held at the end of 2019. Banks enjoyed strong deposit inflows, with growth in deposits of 21.6 percent (to GH¢102.8bn) in 2020. These inflows were channelled largely into debt securities, driving the rise in assets. From the balance-sheet perspective, the impact of the pandemic-induced economic disruption was most significantly felt in the sharp fall in the growth rate of loans and advances to 7.9 percent in 2020 from 37.3 percent in
2019. As at December 2020, the value of outstanding loans and advances was GH¢41.4bn, up by GH¢3bn from the previous year. On the contrary, in 2019, loans and advances increased by GH¢10.4bn to GH¢38.4bn. The factors behind the subdued growth of loans and advances were weaker demand owing to the economic slowdown and restricted supply as credit risks heightened. Shareholders’ Equity On the back of the robust earnings, banks added GH¢3.9bn to shareholders’ equity, equivalent to an improvement of 20.7 percent over the prior year. This growth lifted shareholders’ equity to GH¢22.6bn in December 2020.
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Interview Banking consultant Nana Otuo Acheampong on why banks weathered the pandemic crisis well The banking sector – like the rest of the economy – has come out of a very difficult year. What is your assessment of how the Covid-19 shock impacted the sector, and what explains banks' apparent resilience to the crisis? Every sector and industry in the world has had to bear the carnage of COVID-19, and both Ghana and its banking sector have not been immune to the effects. Several lives have been lost, and people have faced unemployment due to a lack of demand. For the Ghanaian banking sector in particular, the work from home options have worked wonders as the crisis has brought to the fore the possibilities of digital banking. The regulator’s proactive stance has had a positive impact on the sector. Firstly, the prepandemic decision to strengthen the minimum capital base of the universal banks has borne fruits. Secondly, the regulatory decisions and directives from the onset of the pandemic have also contributed to the resilience of
the sector—including restrictions on dividend payment for capital preservation, reduction in the Basel III capital buffer, and the lowering of cash reserve ratios. The loan repayment moratorium directive from the regulator has also contributed to the resilience of the sector. Is there any silver lining in the pandemic for the sector, and what lessons should banks draw generally from the crisis? The global vaccination programmes posit an unseen benefit for global economies, including Ghana’s economy and banking sector. The rapid digitisation of banking services provides hope for the better, albeit without discounting the concomitant cyber security risks. At the onset of the crisis, banks invoked their Business Continuity Plans (BCPs), and once the crisis is over, there will be a need to reevaluate such BCPs to tighten any loose ends that were identified. The risk management
architecture of banks will also need to be vigorously reexamined to tauten the credit analysis variables. How much and in what ways will banking change after the pandemic? In many ways, banking services delivery will change for better or worse. The advent of digitisation of service delivery comes at an unplanned cost, resulting in higher cost to the ultimate consumers of banking services. The new working-from-home culture also requires higher remuneration packages for staff as, in the words of US President Biden, there are expected to be “bumps in the road” to recovery. Banks will need to explore alternate uses to the excess office accommodation constructed at very high cost during the prepandemic era. What impact will the new financial sector clean-up levy have on the sector?
The levy met a mixed reaction from industry players, but on balance, if it’s a short term measure to remedy an externality, then it is most welcome. If it is prolonged, as has been the case in earlier interventions, then the long-term impact will be passed on to the ultimate consumer to render consumption of banking services expensive. How can banks support the post-Covid economic recovery? The pivotal role of the banking sector in Ghana’s US$100 billion COVID-19 Alleviation and Revitalisation of Enterprise Support (CARES) initiative provides ample evidence of the supportive role in the economic recovery. Coupled with the expected role to be played in the soon-tocommence Development Bank of Ghana (DBG) project, the sector is poised to assist in the economic recovery of the state.
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Financial services and products personalisation crucial for building trust and financial inclusion Victor Yaw Asante, MD/CEO of FBNBank Ghana
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inancial inclusion across developing countries, especially those in subSaharan Africa including Ghana remain low even though much progress has been made in the last decade. According to the Global Financial Inclusion Data of the World Bank, the proportion of adult population in Ghana with financial account increased from 41 percent in 2014 to 58 percent in 2017. The data also showed that the adult population with accounts with financial institutions increased from 35 percent to 42 percent between within the same period. This implies that not all the accounts of the adult population are on the platforms of financial institutions as the disparity largely explains the role of mobile money and the telecommunication companies in the financial inclusion process. This notwithstanding, Ghana’s performance is low compared to some other African countries like South Africa, Botswana, Mauritius and Kenya. For instance, in Kenya 82 percent of the adult population have accounts while 56 percent of
the adult population had accounts that are with financial institutions as at 2017. According to Mr. Victor Yaw Asante, the Managing Director of FBNBank Ghana Limited, the rate of financial inclusion depends on a number of factors both from the side of the banks and the customers and as banks find ways to bridge the gap, the situation in Ghana will improve. He mentioned that: “factors such as customer due diligence requirements, eligibility requirements, documentation, information asymmetry, inadequate ICT infrastructure, affordability and trust affect the extension of the financial services and products to the underserved groups and also their willingness and ability to patronize them.” Although these factors are multi-facetted, he believes that the current situation can change significantly “if banks intensify efforts in product development and service delivery which are tailor made to satisfy the needs of individual customers, businesses or groups within the underserved population.” According to him, once
banks understand clients, the environment, the regulations, and the institutional capabilities, it is time to step up product and services design taking into account all these variables especially the clients. He added that “the digital age is linked with tailor-made offerings that deliver personalised services, products and pricing to clients and leveraging technology and big data should help banks to reach the unbanked segment of the population especially through the trust built by customers being served.” Mr. Asante explained that personalsaation in banking is to provide a valuable service or product to clients based on their personal experiences and historical data. This helps to directly satisfy the customer’s needs and help to build trust which has large implications for the financial inclusion process in Ghana given our past. By building trust, “happy customers can assist in educating family and friends about the importance of being an account holder and using certain financial products and services,” Mr. Asante added.
To this end he envisaged that customer satisfaction and experience objectives and the need for banks to differentiate themselves from competition will drive personalization through which financial inclusion will be impacted. High financial inclusion is very high on government’s agenda as it works towards a cash - lite economy leveraging on technology. Last year, government launched three policy initiatives aimed at deepening financial inclusion and increase the shift to digital payments. They were the Digital Financial Services Policy, the Cash-Lite Roadmap and the National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy. Specifically, the aim of the National Financial Inclusion and Development Strategy is “increasing financial inclusion from the current 58 percent to 85 percent by 2023 thus helping to create economic opportunities and reducing poverty.” Mr. Asante is hopeful that banks and other financial institutions in the country will contribute immensely to achieving this goal.
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UBA Connect -- Facilitating trade within Africa MD & CEO UBA GHANA, OLALEKAN BALOGUN
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nited Bank of Africa Ghana, Africa’s Global Bank’s introduction of the UBA Connect Service has helped to facilitate trade in the payments for goods and services for crossborder transactions within Africa in line with the objectives of the AfCFTA. The product is an inter-entity service that allows customers to have instant access to their funds over-the counter at any branch within the UBA network, enabling customers to seamlessly transact from any of the 20 countries other than the country where the account is held. With the UBA Connect Service,
customers can withdraw, deposit and transfer money from their account across the twenty African countries where UBA has presence. Deposits can also be done by third party customers. However, the service does not allow third party withdrawals. This service is to drive innovation in retail and trade banking to ensure seamless transactions across African countries. The UBA Connect Service allows for instant transmission of data and significantly fast processing with transactions being consummated and source account impacted within minutes.
The novel UBA USD Prepaid Card for seamless international transactions
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igital transactions are efficient since they are time-saving, convenient and, in most cases, less costly than using cash. Globally, the use of cards has become the solution to cash-lite economies with digital payments providing transparency and accountability to financial transactions making it possible to prevent the hemorrhage of funds. One of the many options available for cardless transactions are through debit, credit and prepaid cards. Prepaid cards are very convenient and secure to use especially for online purchases
as they are not linked directly to an account, reducing the chances of loss of funds. Reason why Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank of Africa has provided the USD Prepaid cards to facilitate international transactions for their customers. The card is to enable individuals to seamlessly carry out international transactions when outside the country or simply, when making a purchase on a website. The UBA USD Visa Prepaid card is EMV Chip certified and offers power, convenience, security and prestige of Visa. It comes with a one-time financial obligation of issuance
A non-restrictive account, hence accounts can be operated from any UBA office in Africa outside customer’s home country of account domiciliation, which allows business men, entrepreneurs’ and travellers to take advantage of the product. In Ghana, transaction currency is in cedis and in the local currency of the country where transaction is taking place. The transaction limit of the account does not exceed a US$10,000 (equivalent) per day for withdrawals and US$10,000 annually for deposits. This product is also providing cross border payment with ease fee and a recurring loading and maintenance fee. Prepaid Card is a variant of a payment card that is independent of a bank account and requires to be pre-loaded with funds before its usage. The UBA USD Prepaid card which is embedded with an array of fraud detection and prevention capabilities is able to mitigate fraud to a certain level. The card is embedded with a chip and requires pin prior to every transaction. The card has a transaction velocity limit set on it which prevents the user from exceeding the spend limit and also doing excessive transactions within a short period of time. The USD Prepaid card can only function outside the country and does not work on any local terminal (Web, ATM and POS) in Ghana.
and serving as payment and settlement system for members of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). With 42 currencies on the continent, this system provides a platform for movement of funds with ease. The UBA Connect product also supports the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 17), as the service is significantly providing the financial platform to increase exports among developing countries to strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development.
The card, currently, has been designed to serve two entities; individuals and corporate. Under corporate, there are two offerings that are provided; Corporate Expense and CoBranding. Companies that wish to have prepaid cards issued them have to communicate to the bank via a resolution letter and clearly state their intents. If the request is for corporate expense, the details of the officer whom the card will be in his or her possession, will be needed to meet the Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement before issuance. If the request is for a co-branding programme, other information including the logo, colours, pictures of employees/students etc. will be required. The UBA USD Prepaid card is your solution to secured international transactions.
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Interview with
Michael Gyabaah,
Chief Finance Officer – Access Bank (Ghana) Plc
Question: The banking sector-like the rest of the economy--has come out of a very difficult year caused by the pandemic. How did your bank respond to the challenge to maintain its growth trajectory? Answer: The main issues that came up centred on our own internal response and then as part of a coordinated or composite response by the industry spearheaded by the regulator. Our Business Continuity Plan (BCP) as a bank, as part of the general governance structure of any bank, simulates a difficult time as a pandemic. Our BCP is clear and it speaks about our staffing arrangements, physical engagements; for instance if there was a pandemic or any natural disaster, it spells out clearly the salient issues we should be looking out for. First of all, what we sought to do was to just kick it into motion; take critical decisions and roll out our response. Our response was about our staff because if the staff are not available then we can’t serve the customer. We started with our staffing arrangement, people working from home, working in shifts -- giving staff
working tools to be able to make sure that all those arrangements were relevant. When the president announced only essential service workers were to go to the office, what we did was to split staff into two groups. We had one team at home and the other in the office. So, should there be a breakout or infection, we would have had another safe place which can then kick in. This arrangement meant that we initially had to incur some costs, because we needed to buy some PPEs, buy sanitisers etc., to make sure all the protocols were in place. On the part of our customers, as we all know, the structure of Ghana’s economy is more of import and export trade-related and we quickly realised that because a lot of these customers are into trade and there were a lot of restrictions, so they were unable to travel. Because these customers have liquidity, we rolled out some products that gave some level of improved earnings on the cash, which typically would have been kept in the current account or any other activity but that is no longer immediately available. So, we gave a little higher
percentages to serve as motivation to customers to bring their money to us, at least till when things are eased out and the economy opens up. This ensured that the customers would have gotten at least some bit of yield that is able to shore up their business. The business relationship is one that thrives on trust, so we also extended moratorium to some customers. We have some very significant customers in the hotel and hospitality industry and occupancy level was less than 5%, how are they going to service their credit facilities? Because customers were not visiting these locations, they were not generating enough revenue to service their facilities. Our plan considered all the challenges and depending on the need, moratorium were a minimum six months to a maximum two years to some of these customers just to make sure that even though we will lose out of the liquidity we are needing, in the long term we will see them having more trust in our offering and services. On the other hand, because of the challenges being faced by our customers, liquidity was one area we needed to be cautious of since customers could not
service their facilities. Our plan, therefore, took into consideration investment that are not running into long-term deals, and we could have access to liquidity at any time. We were also able to survive because the Bank of Ghana did some interventions. What the BoG did was to reduce the primary reserve requirement from 10 to 8 percent. For instance, for every cedi of customer deposit we receive as a bank, we keep 10 percent with the central bank so that should anything happen or the system goes down, BoG can fall on that to bail out any of the member bank who has the issue. This meant that they left two percent that could be given out as loans to some customers to make sure that there is less stress on the financial system. Then they also came up with some interventions like reducing the monetary policy rate by 150 basis points. That also meant that if we borrowed previously from the central bank at 15 or 16 percent and they drop the rate to 14.5 percent, we could extend that relaxed terms to some customers.
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And then, the last bit of response we took on our own was that we also have some multilateral partners who provide some funds to Access Bank. What happened was that, a lot of our customers in our SMEs space needed to be brought up to speed in terms of their digital readiness, and how they interact with their customers, etc. So, we had series of webinar sessions trying to bring a lot of these SME customers up to speed with new tech trends they can utilise. Q. What lessons has your bank learned from the pandemic? Answer: What comes up strongly is that no condition is permanent. And what we see is that traditional brick and mortar will never be what banking is about because the bank has moved on to digital. After Covid, there’s not going to be any reversal of what we used to do again. There is a new normal, and we are not going to depart from the digital engagement but we are going to deepen them. Lessons from the Covid is that digital is the way and we will not go to what it was before. Q. How much and in what ways do you expect banking to change after the pandemic? Answer: What I see typically is a collaborative new norm. Currently, a lot of the emphasis is on telcos and fintechs because they are the enablers for a lot of the convenience that banks offer to the customers. Previously, banks’ customers were expected to fill a ledger in order to complete their transactions. This then moved on to network banking where customers had access to the accounts from any their bank’s branches. Now we have even progressed beyond the network banking to where customers do not necessarily need have bank accounts with a particular bank in order to complete a transaction. With these changes, we see a lot more emphasis and more role play by Fintechs and the Telcos -- unless may be banks decide to collaborate and probably bring their own platform. But I believe telcos and fintechs are here to stay – they are increasingly becoming more important to the banking business and I see lot partnerships between them and the banks.
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Q. What impact do you think the new financial sector clean-up levy will have on the sector? Answer: From where I sit, I don’t see any adverse impact of the levy on the performance of the banks. Banks live in an ecosystem that have customers from the communities and the environment they operate. We know government taxation is used to equalise opportunities for players in the economic system so I see banks doing better even with the taxes because government need taxes for development and as the economic environment improves then banks can also do well in terms of profit. Q. As the economy begins to rebound from the slowdown in 2020, what in your view is the outlook for the banking sector? Answer: I see the banking sector growing very astronomically. From year 2000 to date, if we were looking for any era that banks are expected to record leaps and bounds performance, we can point to 2020-2022. We are going to see an era of quantum leap in performance, none like any other period from 2000. From simple Economics, we have had a situation where everything goes down and it’s starting to go up again. Banks are going to go up because the economy went to sleep and it just woke up again. It woke up again because of the ease in restrictions. So, all of a sudden, the economy is
Michael Gyabaah
going to expand. I see the outlook to be very bright and very bullish. So, if I have to predict, I would say that it would probably be the best we would see in the last 3 or 4 years. Q: The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is the latest big economic project in Africa. What opportunities does your bank see in the AfCFTA for the growth of its business Answer: As I have already mentioned, the economic environment is an ecosystem and it’s based on a whole lot of relationships and interrelationships. Currently, Access Bank is more like a Pan African Project where we are looking forward to expand to a lot of African countries. Currently, we are in the SADC regions, South and Central Africa. Recently, we open up in Kenya and South Africa and we are already in West Africa scattered all over Gambia, Liberia. Sierra Leone, Ghana and Nigeria. Trade really is about the having a hub and having the enabling platform where trade interactions between trade parties can happen. Now with the AfCFTA coming on board, what that means is that our customers who were probably incurring a lot of cost in terms of corresponding bank charges to link up with exporters, importers in the various markets, it gives us opportunities since we are there already. So, for instance, if I have Access
Bank in South Africa and Access Bank in Ghana, I am able to tap into a lot of imports coming from South Africa to Ghana or moving from Ghana to South Africa. The good news for the customer is that it reduces the cost of doing business because he may not have to go through a city bank or another corresponding bank because I have footprints in those areas so that’s clearly a collaborative opportunity that benefits both the bank and the customer at the end of the day which I think it’s a step in the right direction. Closing remarks. What I would say is that, as a bank in the post-pandemic era, things will never be back to where they were before. I think that, some things would remain the same, and that is about how the customer feels and what they see as convenient for them -- that wouldn’t change. That has nothing to do with technology but rather has to do with the customers’ sentiments. It is about continued commitment to our customers and continued commitment to our own values. If we say more than banking, then the customer should really feel and live tangibly and that this is really more than banking -- that’s going beyond the ordinary to deliver the perceived impossible and that will make the customer feel like they are getting the output they are making out there.
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GRIB wants loans to rice farmers capped at 10 percent By Reuben Quainoo
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resident of the Ghana Rice Interprofessional Body (GRIB), Nana Kwabena Adjei Ayeh II, has entreated government to get commercial banks to reduce the interest on borrowing to 10 percent for rice farmers across the country. According to him, the current lending rates of between 26 to 32 percent per annum is too high and frightening for rice farmers in dire need of capital to expand their businesses and upgrade infrastructure.
“Rice deserves special attention because of its unique role in Ghana’s food value chain. Soft loans can help boost our farms’ value, make our business more efficient, and improve our products,” Nana Ayeh said at GRIB's national value chain engagement and general meeting in Accra. “Rice is one of the staple foods in Ghana and it used to prepare different kind of dishes. It is usually the dominant food on the menu of most restaurants and roadside eateries in the county,”
he underscored the relevance of the commodity to the nation's food security. GRIB is a national umbrella organisation of rice stakeholders with the goal of working towards a competitive local rice sector which puts producers in the best position to derive benefits from their harvest. The association’s membership includes rice farmers, aggregators, marketers, and consumers. Nana Ayeh II was re-elected unopposed after winning all 39
valid votes cast in the presidential election. Mr. Dennis Obeng Adjei was elected Vice President, whiles Mr. David Yaw Mensah was elected as GRIB’s Financial Secretary in the polls which was supervised by the Electoral Commission. The elected executives will steer affairs of the association for the next three years. Nana Ayeh II urged the newly elected executives to work hard for the benefit of rice farmers.
GCB Bank leveraging technology to deliver customer expectations
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CB Bank says it has adjusted to the new normal precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and reconstructed business models by leveraging technology to safely meet customer expectations. “It is a matter of record that this Board has right from the onset set digitalisation as the key to driving shareholder value,” Mr. Jude Kofi Arthur, the Board Chairman of GCB, said at the Bank’s Annual General Meeting. Mr Arthur said accelerating digital capabilities as a key driver of future growth and transformation was imperative and that the situation from the current pandemic made it even more critical to accelerate the Bank’s digitalisation programme. The Board Chairman said the Bank continued to make
progress in its transformation strategy and was on course to create a resilient, agile and efficient organisation across digital platforms to make banking more convenient to customers. He explained that G-Money; the Bank’s flagship mobile money wallet platform continued to grow and also, their GCB Mobile App that customers could download on Apple and Google Playstore had been deployed for the first time, to provide customers access to banking services at their convenience. He said going into the future, G-Money would be critical in leading the Bank’s digitisation agenda, providing an expanded payment channel and convenient banking services for individual and corporate customers. He said in playing an
additional role as a national bank, GCB had supported the government's efforts on the financial sector bailout programme. The Managing Director said the Bank was a key stakeholder in the GCB Real Estate Investment Trust, which constructed 204 townhouses in Tema for sale to public sector workers under a mortgage scheme. As part of the scheme, the Bank will provide mortgage financing facilities to potential purchasers of the housing units.
“GCB is committed to being a good corporate citizen in the communities where the Bank serves with the focus on giving back to society in the areas of health, education, sports, financial inclusion and the environment,” he added. Mr Arthur said during the year, notwithstanding the difficult operating environment, the Bank invested a total of GH¢8.04 million in Corporate Social Responsibility, compared to GH¢10.43 million in 2019. GNA
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