An Agronomist Consultant, Mr. Augustine Adongo, has asked persons looking for financing to start-up businesses to stay far off bank loans if they intend to succeed in their businesses. He said such investors have no business borrowing from a bank, and even if the banks entice them, promising ‘all the support in the world’, they should resist the temptation because ‘banks everywhere in the world, not only here in Ghana, are not set up to service start-up companies.’ Mr. Adongo who was contributing to discussions at the Joy FM/Corporate Initiative Ghana forum on banking at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, on the theme; The Changing Face of Banking in Ghana and capped Joy FM’s annual Banking Month series. He said the best option for business start-ups is to source funds from family and friends. “They are those you should take money from to start your business,” not the banks which he said “if they promise you heaven, stay on earth.” Mr. Adongo said in spite of the relatively large number of banks in the country, there is absolutely no competition in the Banking Sector in Ghana, with virtually all the banks ‘doing the same things’. “Competition is not numbers, competition is the availability of choice. If I have a thousand women, all preparing banku, there is no competition between them, from the perspective of the customer. If I go to the first chop bar, it’s Banku Chop Bar, second is Banku No. 2 Chop Bar, third is Banku No. 3 Chop Bar. That is what we are seeing in Ghana.” He maintained that if you walked into any bank today, be they Ghanaian, Nigerian, American or whatever, they offer you exactly the same products.