The Board Chairman of the Agricultural Development Bank plc, Daasebre Akuamoah Agyepong II, has stated that the bank will remain committed to the agriculture sector.

According to him, the bank was established to support the agricultural sector and thus the board will continue to ensure the core mandate remain a priority.

Presenting his 2021 report at the 35th Annual General Meeting in Accra, Daasebre Agyepong said the bank posted an improved performance of profit after tax of ¢81.6 million.

This he indicated represented an increase of 24.8% growth of the ¢65.4 million profit recorded the previous year.

The Board Chairman attributed the performance of the bank to interest income as a result of the growth in loans and advances. Interest income grew from ¢415.4 million in 2020 to ¢480.3 million in 2021, whilst operating income soared from ¢555.9 million in 2020 to ¢639.9 million in 2021.

DaasebreAgyapong II, who is the Kwawuhene and the President of the Kwahu Traditional Council, said the bank’s performance last year resulted in Return on Equity and Return on Assets of 12.09% and 1.81% against 7.69% and 1.14% respectively.

Also the assets of the bank grew to ¢6.45 million in 2021, from ¢5.72 million in 2020, and deposits grew by 15%, from ¢4.2 billion in 2020 to ¢4.9 billion.

“The size of our balance sheet grew over the year from ¢5.7 billion to ¢6.5 billion in 2021, representing 12.9% growth,” the Board Chairman said.

Daasebre Agyapong II stated that the Non-Performing Loans portfolio of the bank witnessed a reduction, from 34% in 2020 to 31% in 2021.

“Our target is to bring the NPL ratio within the industry bracket of 14% by 2023,” he said.

The Board Chairman said the capital adequacy ratio was 14.49% and above the regulatory minimum of 11.5%.

“The reconstituted board continued with the implementation of the three-year Strategic Bank adopted for the period 2020 to 2023 and the associated annual budgets,” Daasebre Agyapong II said.

He indicated that the new board would review the strategy at the end of its implementation period and adopt a new strategy, with agriculture being a priority.  

“We remain confident of the prospects of the bank and the fact that we are on the right track towards full recovery,” the Board Chairman assured.

Managing Director of ADB, Dr John Kofi Mensah, in an interview said the bank would continue to put in place measures and strategies to reduce NPLs.

He pledged that ADB would continue to focus on agriculture in spite that the sector was difficult and risky, indicating that in the poultry industry if a disease sets in one was likely to lose all the birds.

Dr Mensah said the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukraine conflict had dealt a big blow to agriculture.

However, the Managing Director said ADB would continue to support the agriculture sector to thrive because the Covid-19 pandemic had had negative effect on the sector.

“Every economy depends on the agriculture sector. Had it not been the good efforts of the agriculture sector, coronavirus would have damaged the economy more than we saw.”

Dr. Mensah called on all stakeholders in the country to support agriculture, stressing that “agric is an area many institutions must sacrificed to be there.”