The Agriculture Development Bank (ADB) is implementing measures that will help the bank to increase the share of agribusiness in its total loan portfolio from 28 per cent to 50 per cent by 2022.
The Managing Director, Dr John Kofi Mensah, said that the measures, when fully implemented, would help propel the bank to achieve its core objective of positioning agribusiness as a springboard for national development.
Dr Mensah expressed the bank’s commitment to agribusiness to shareholders and directors at the 33rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank which was held virtually via the bank’s official website in Accra. The virtual AGM was in compliance with regulations set out for listed companies on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) in accordance with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) safety protocols.
Dr Mensah said last year the bank continued to collaborate with the government to implement policies such as the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), Rearing for Food and Jobs (RFJ), Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) and the One-District, One-Factory (1D1F) initiative.
As part of that collaboration, the MD said, the bank had committed about GH¢100 million to support the purchase of fertilisers and certified seeds under the PFJ. Again, he said, the bank supported the National Food Buffer Stock Company Ltd with an amount of GH¢70 million to purchase grains produced under the PFJ last year.
Dr Mensah added that as part of efforts to position the bank as an enabler for the development of Agribusiness, in 2019, the bank initiated the process of being accredited to the Green Climate Fund, an international financial mechanism under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
In response to the sharp demand for digital banking products and services, Dr Mensah said the bank’s agenda of being a major player in the digital banking space was on course with the promotion of a cash lite policy. Dr Mensah hinted that the bank would this year complete the migration from issuing a Magnetic Stripe cards to a much more secure chip and pin cards to its clients as part of the bank’s propriety cards and ensure the enhancement of its Mobile App.
Meanwhile, the Board Chairman of the bank, Mr Alex Bernasko, told shareholders that there would be no payment of dividend for the 2019 financial year although the bank recorded a profit of GH¢14.8 million in 2019, compared to GH¢5.9 million in 2018.
He said the decision was as a result of a negative income surplus of GH¢188.8 million on its balance sheet since 2016.
The chairman of the bank Mr Bernasko explained that the decision on the dividends issue will be communicated to the media later.
