<<Print>>

Access Bank Plc, one of Africa's pre-eminent financial institutions, is set to formally begin operations in Ghana later this month to provide innovative and customer-centric banking services. This follows the approval granted it by the Bank of Ghana last May after it had fulfilled all requirements to establish a full-fledged banking subsidiary in Ghana making it the 26th financial institution in the country. With a stated capital base of GH�80 million, far in excess of the GH�60 million requirement by the Bank of Ghana, Access Bank (Ghana) becomes the eighth subsidiary of the Access Bank Group on the African continent and is present across all monetary zones in sub-Saharan Africa including a full banking subsidiary in the United Kingdom. At an interaction with journalists in Accra on Tuesday, Mr Daniel Kwasi Akaba, Country Managing Director of Access Bank (Ghana), said the bank had assembled a team of professionals and seasoned bankers who were effectively positioned to provide tailor-made solutions to meet banking needs of customers. Mr Akaba said with its experienced team, the bank was poised and committed to delivering a new experience in world class banking into the Ghanaian market to make it Africa's bank of best practices. He said Access Bank (Ghana) was ready to play an active role in key sectors such as oil and gas, telecommunications, construction, cocoa, manufacturing, SMEs, among others, to propel growth and create wealth for local businesses and individuals. "As a Ghanaian who has lived and worked in Ghana all my life, I know our environment, and I am determined to align the aims of the bank with the aspirations of our government, corporate citizens and individuals," the Country Managing Director said. Mr Akaba said the bank also intended to transform the traditional Ghanaian hospitality into a business asset that would welcome investors and support local businesses to add value to the country's developmental efforts. He promised the bank would employ values such as excellence, compliance with regulations, passion for excellence, teamwork, trust and continuous growth and career development to serve customers. The Access Bank is based in Nigeria and registered on the Nigeria Stock Exchange with US$8.9 billion total assets as at March 2008 and shareholders' funds of US$1.5 billion with major foreign investment from the International Finance Corporation and the Netherlands Development Finance Company.