Microfin Rural Bank with its head office located in Gomoa Pomadze in the Central Region of Ghana is committed to providing innovative and sustainable microfinance products to accelerate financial intermediation in the Central Region of Ghana. The bank is the first Financial Non-Governmental Organisation (FNGO) in Ghana to have transformed to a rural bank for its clients and people within its operational area.
The bank has developed various microfinance products which are engaging the attention of practitioners, microfinance institutions and rural banks in Ghana and the sub-region.
The bank hosted a five-member delegation from the Community Banks in Sierra Leone which undertook a five-day familiarisation visit to understudy the rural banking system in Ghana.
The team was taken through the bank?s microfinance products and visited Adansi Rural Bank, Awutu Amasa Rural Bank, Adonten Community Bank as well as the ARB Apex Bank. The team was also exposed to the transactional relationship between the ARB Apex Bank and Rural and Community Banks in Ghana by Mr. Paul Lawer, the Operations Manager of Microfin Rural Bank.
The team was led by Nelson Salia, the Coordinator of Community Banks in Sierra Leone, who expressed his appreciation to the management of Microfin Rural Bank for developing a variety of microfinance products tailored to meet demands of people in the micro-enterprise sector with a view of improving their lives.
Mr. Salia said the visit of the team is timely because Sierra Leone is in the process of starting an Apex Bank to provide support services for the Community Banks to improve their operations. He recounted that the rural banking system in Ghana has come a long way and is a shining example for the sub-region and Africa as a whole.
The General Manager of Microfin Rural Bank, Mr. Ishmael Otchere, said though the bank is new in the financial market, it will soon roll-out agricultural credit products to break the myth about agricultural lending — which is perceived to be of high risk for the rural banking sector. He said microfinance will offer real improvement in the lives of people in rural areas if they get access to credit that can assist them in their agricultural activities.
He said managing agricultural credit risk requires value-chain focus products which are multi-faceted and link production, storage, transport and marketing.
He added that financial literacy and relevant educational programmes for the clients are also key for the success of any microfinance product. He said the bank has opened its doors to partner with any donor institution that has passion for reducing poverty in the Central Region through value-chain agricultural credit products modelled on microfinance. He advocated that Ghanaians should patronise their own food, which is one of the effective ways of boosting agricultural production, providing employment for the youth, and improving the lives of the people — particularly in the deprived rural areas.
