The Ghanaian Journal

The management of Builsa Community Bank in the Upper East Region on Tuesday appealed to shareholders, residents in Builsa District and Bolgatanga Municipality to help increase its capital base to generate more funds for operation.

It called on the people to patronise facilities provided by the government through ARB Apex Bank for micro financing of development projects.

Mr Edward Atagabe, Chairman of Board of Directors of the bank, made the appeal at the Eighth Annual General Meeting of shareholders at Sandema.

He said the loan facility was for both long and short-term projects and government grants depending on the nature of the projects.

Mr Atagabe said management had opened an agency in Bolgatanga and another at Fumbisi to extend its services to other areas and mobilise more funds.

Mr Atagabe announced that Bolgatanga agency, established in September 2006, had mobilized GH¢132,000 (1.32 billion cedis) in savings and GH¢310,000 (3.1 billion cedis) as share capital.

It also generated a net profit of GH¢8,600 (86 million cedis) during the first seven months of its operation.

He said the bank made 33 per cent loss in its 2006 profits, as compared to 2005 when it had to absorb the operational cost of Bolgatanga agency.

The net profit for 2006 was GH¢27,200 (272 million cedis) and 2005 was Gh¢40,500 (405 million cedis).

However, total deposits increased from Gh¢630,000 (6.3 billion cedis) in 2005 to GH¢ 970,000 (9.7 billion cedis) in 2006.

Mr George K. Annor of Association of Rural Banks (ARB) Apex Bank commended management of the bank for their efficient performance during the past two years.

He urged them to improve on their loan recovery system and strengthen internal control mechanisms to minimize fraud and risks to ensure efficient operations.

Mr Annor said Apex Bank had developed financial products such as ‘Home Cash’ and Apex Link domestic funds transfer, to enhance deposit mobilization and profits of rural banks.

He called on businessmen to patronise the products instead of carrying huge sums of money when travelling.

Mr Annor explained that ARB Apex Bank provided banking and non-banking support services to rural banks to enable them contribute significantly to the socio-economic development of their catchment areas.
GNA