By: Kingsley Attitsogbui| Kpeve
The Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Alex Kwasi Awuah has said that the Bank and the Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) had a hit of more than GHS1.10billion in the recently completed Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) in Ghana by the government.
He said this at the 37th Annual General Meeting of the Weto Rural Bank at its Head office at Kpeve, the South Dayi District capital in the Volta Region last Saturday, 19th August, 2023.
“As you are all aware, ARB Apex Bank and the RCBs took a hit of more than GHS1.10billion in the recently completed Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP)” he stressed.
He stated that the time had come to implement appropriate strategies that will ensure continued growth and sustainability of the banks given the unending economic challenges facing the Country.
He added that the bigger macro-economic issues still linger on, the rural banking community still feels the adverse impact of that environment.
Alex Awuah, emphasizing the importance of technology in today’s banking sector hinted that the much-awaited Agency, Mobile and Internet Banking project will start soon as Point of Sale (PoS) devices have been procured and shipped into the country for that purpose.
He indicated that two key project Consultants are coming into the country to help deploy the Train-the-Trainer and User Acceptance Workshop from Monday 21st – Friday 25th August, 2023.
This he said will be in readiness for the go-live date of the first phase of the project, which is the implementation of the USSD Banking Solution.
Alex Awuah, urge management of the Weto Rural Bank to become more aggressive as untapped areas for small, medium, and individual enterprises development remain promising in Kpeve and its environs.
He called on the Directors and Shareholders to do their possible best to invest more resources into the Weto Rural Bank to help the Management go out and engage the customers with confidence.
The Board Chairman of the bank, Sebastian K. Atsrim, announced payment of dividends to the tune of GHS100.000.00 for the year 2022 with GHS0.00209 being paid per share.
“This year, the Board considered the payment and after meticulous analysis and approval from Bank of Ghana, the Board has approval for payment of a total value of Ghc100.000.00 as dividend for the year 2022, that is Ghc0.00209 per share” he added.
He noted that since 2019, the bank could not pay dividends due to a strategy to build up reserves and also a regulatory directive from the Bank of Ghana (BoG).
The Weto Rural Bank last year recorded a dip in Profit Before Tax (PBT) decline by 38% from GHS 829,886 in 2021 to GHS512, 490 in 2022 financial year.
Shareholders who spoke to the Inside Ghana News Service Reporter, Kingsley Attitsogbui, said the bank has been helpful in terms of the numerous support they get from it as in loans for their wards school fees, agriculture activities and investment into other small and medium businesses in their localities.
Source: www.ignewss.com|Ghana