Two Nigerian banks will soon set up subsidiaries in the country though the Bank of Ghana is bent on increasing the minimum capital of banks to between GH¢60 million from the current GH¢7.0 million by December 2009. The move by these financial institutions would further heighten competition in the banking industry which has assumed impeccable heights. The two, whose names were given as Access and First City Monument banks, will soon apply for provisional licences from the Central Bank. While Access is being motivated by the impressive achievements chalked so far by its peers in Ghana, First Monument which attempted buying majority shares (hostile takeover) in CAL Bank - a situation which forced the Central Bank to halt the acquisition - is seeking to join the already exciting banking industry. Beside Ghana, Access Bank is set to also open branches in Congo, Zambia and Cote d’lvoire as part of its aggressive pan African expansion vision. First City Monument Bank, a listed company on the Nigerian Stock Exchange accounts for over 2 percent of total assets in the Nigerian banking industry and has over 130 branches across that country. The two are part of the 25 banks in Nigeria that were able to consolidate their operations after the Central Bank of Nigeria announced in 2004 its intention of raising the minimum capital for all banks to N25 billion ($192 million) from N2 billion by the end of 2005. The decision triggered the movement of some banks to neighboring Ghana in order to mobilize more deposits. United Bank for Africa (UBA) was the first to start operations in Ghana in 2004 as Standard Trust Bank until its merger, and then followed by Zenith and Intercontinental. Guaranty Trust followed suit while Meeky Investments, majority shareholder in Oceanic Bank acquired a large stake in Amalbank. So far, all the five banks have posted some good financial results and this is due to the relative macroeconomic stability in Ghana. In addition to the two banks, a top Saudi Arabian bank is also eyeing the Ghanaian financial market. Though the name of the bank is yet to be known, it is believe to be linked with one of the oil rich country’s business magnates, which is considering setting up operations in Ghana soon. Efforts by this reporter to contact the Head of Banking Supervision at the Central Bank, Dela Selormey for confirmation, proved futile. A few weeks back Bank PHB, a leading financial institution in Nigeria expressed interest in setting up operations in the country as part of its African expansion plans. An official of PHB which sponsored the “Apprentice Africa 2008” competition hinted that the bank was studying the Ghanaian market vigorously before unleashing its business plan. However, since the Central Bank might not issue any banking licence till next year, the banks will have to wait until then. Source: Daily Guide