The 21st annual CEOs conference for rural and community banks has been held in the Volta Regional capital, Ho.

Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Elsie Addo Awadzi who was the special guest of honour noted that over the years, the rural community bank CEOs’ conference has provided a unique forum for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and brainstorming to promote the interests of the rural and community banking industry as well as to strengthen standards of practice in the rural banking community.

Mrs. Awadzi noted that this year, the conference is taking place at a crucial era in the global economy and domestic economy, with the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic and the recent Russian –Ukraine war.

“Against the Backdrop of a slowdown in global economic growth and accommodative fiscal and monetary policies, we have seen high rates of inflation, high-interest rates and tighter financing conditions all around the world and for our domestic economy, RCB customers have been some of the hardest hit by the pandemic and its aftermath,” Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzi said.

She noted that the situation has implications for credit risk and the overall financial performance of the industry.

“The role of the RCB industry in our economy has been significant, providing critical financial services to the MSME sector, the informal sector, and low-income households. Indeed, the RCB sector currently comprising 147 Rural Community Banks remains one of the key pillars of financial inclusion in Ghana with some 8 million depositors and over 6 million loan customers,” Mrs. Awadzi said.

Mrs. Else Addo Awadzi said there is however more room for improvement for the RCB sector to be strategically positioned to play a more significant role in their catchment areas and in Ghana’s sustainable economic transformation.

She stressed that rural community banking, therefore, needs to augment its capital base as needed in order to deploy more sophisticated systems and structures in line with the Bank of Ghana’s cyber and information security directive.

The Managing Director for the ARB APEX Bank, Kwasi Awuah in his remarks noted that rural community banks should be “realigned and positioned to become more resilient in the face of the economic uncertainties facing the world.”

Mr. Awuah noted that the Bank of Ghana’s rural banking concept began with the establishment of the first RCB at Nyakrom in the Central Region in 1976 with the view of bridging the rural financial intermediation gap.

However, almost fifty years down the line, he said, the gap remains palpable on one hand, due to no fault of the rural banks.

“I believe firmly that with the advent of digitalization and the growth in financial technology (Fintech) solutions, we must fully embrace the digital revolution by deploying the right products and services to fill this yawning gap in our RCBs’ sub-sector. We, at ARB Apex Bank, are confident that we can close this gap through digital solutions such as Agency Banking, Mobile Banking, and the Internet Banking Project, which would soon be implemented,” Mr. Awuah said.

He noted that they have completed the bidding process and received ‘no objection’ from the World Bank and the  Ministry of Finance and the service providers would soon sign the contract for work to begin adding that as soon as contracts are signed, full implementation of this important World Bank and Government of Ghana supported project would commence in earnest.

He noted that to re-emphasize the importance of providing digital banking services and give it project focus, they have set up a dedicated Digital Banking Unit "as part of new strategic initiatives and hope that this will give fresh impetus to expand service platforms and increase financial access in our communities."

The Oti and Volta President of the Rural Banking Association, Larry Kwesi Jiagge in his remarks said with the presence of Elsie Addo Awadzi, there is assurance from the BoG for the growth and sustainability of the Rural and Community Banks [RCBs].

“Her presence here this morning gives me a firm assurance that the Bank of Ghana attaches utmost importance to the growth and sustainability of the Rural and Community Banks (RCBs),” he said.

Mr. Jiagge on behalf of his colleagues appealed to the Second Deputy Governor to use her good offices to help them retrieve their locked-up funds from the Securities and Exchange [SEC] Commission.

The two-day programme had presentations on topics like; understanding gender-based violence and harassment in the workplace and how to manage a model rural community bank among others.