ADB to further support agribusinesses this year – MD

The Managing Director-Agricultural Development Bank PLC (ADB), Dr. John Kofi Mensah, has noted that with the agribusiness sector’s fast-growing nature, it has become essential to increase support for the industry.

Given this reality, he said, the ADB will this year focus on building up resources to meet the sectors’ financial needs.

“The bank is now very strong, but being a bank responsible for the agric sector we need a lot of resources to be able to handle that. So, in the coming years, shareholders, directors and management will be concentrating on building-up resources for this sector; because we know that agribusiness is growing and therefore the demand in terms of support will be great on the side of ADB.

“Now Ghana is concentrating on various value chains in the agribusiness sector. Hitherto, it was just primary agriculture but now we’ve gone into value chains; we moved from crops to fishery and perennial crop production. Ghana is expanding very well, and therefore financial support is especially needed,” he said.

He said this in an interview with the media at the bank’s customer appreciation dinner in Accra, held to express appreciation and gratitude to clients for their loyalty and unflinching support for the ADB brand. The event also allowed clients to interact with management, address any issue or admonition, and to further deepen their already healthy relationship.

Speaking on how the bank is faring, Dr. Mensah noted that ADB has moved from a loss-making bank to a year-on-year profit-making bank – attributing this success to continuous loyalty on the side of its customers.

“As a business, the Agricultural Development Bank has become what it is today thanks to your business relationship with us over the years, through our 86-networked locations nationwide – and we are hoping to add to this and have about 100 by end of this year. By the grace of God, we have moved from a loss-making bank to a year-on-year profit-making bank within the period, and we are happy to say your continuous loyalty has largely contributed to this success story,” he said.

Improvements

Highlighting the improvements chalked up by the bank, he said ADB is currently an ISO 27001-2013 and PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards) certified bank, which means it has met the International Standard Organisation’s requirement in ensuring customer information security and confidentiality.

In an attempt to provide state of the art equipment, the bank in 2021 also procured 14 brand-new ATM machines to replace obsolete ones at Osu, Kaneshie, Legon, Wisconsin, Achimota, Lapaz, Nungua and Teshie.

In addition, the bank was the first to establish a Security Operation Centre (SOC), and the first bank in the country to meet this directive.

“Since I assumed the role of Managing Director, with support from our Board of Directors, Management and Staff of the bank, we have worked round the clock to turn the fortunes of the bank around,” he said.

Dr. Mensah therefore pledged ADB’s commitment to meeting the aspirations and changing needs of its customers.

Source: B&FT