Naara Rural Bank record significant growth in its performance indicators


The Naara Rural Bank in the Upper East Region has held its 25th Annual General Meeting of shareholders with a call on the bank to strengthen its customer services and internal controls to block loopholes that often result in income losses. 

The Manager of the Tamale branch of the ARB Apex Bank Limited, James Kwesi Arko who made the call on the sideline of the bank’s sterling performance in the year under review said notwithstanding the achievements, the bank was proficient to advancing its profit before tax and improve its overall performance despite the challenging and competitive banking environment. 

The occasion brought together dignitaries including chiefs, political heads as well as directors and managers of other sister rural and community banks among valued shareholders.  

Ghana’s economy in 2014 saw a dramatic fall in the value of the cedi depreciating almost 40 percent against the US dollar and other major trading currencies due to its excessive demand. 

With an unstable inflationary rate, interest rate developments on the money market also projected an upward trend in the same year with the average interest rate on 91 -day Treasury bill rising to 25.81 percent from 19.22 percent in 2013. 

The discrepancies in the macro economic environment was exacerbated with the emergence of fraudulent microfinance institutions whose operations has been a threat to the small banking institutions. 

Despite these challenges, the Naara Rural Bank continue to record significant improvement in most of the key performance indicators. 

The Bank maintained a satisfactory rating by the Central Bank and currently ranked 31 out of 141 rural and community rural banks nationwide as compared to 75 rating in 2013 by the Efficiency Monitoring Unit of the ARB Apex Bank. 

Based on its improved products, the bank continued to be the first among the Northern Rural and Community Banks in terms of total assets, deposits, not worth, loans and advances and profitability. 

Products such as the Naara micro and Susu credit schemes under its micro-finance department is impacting significantly on small holder farmers, particularly women in its operational areas. 

According to the Board Chairman of the bank, Kwaku Ananga, the existence of Naara Rural Bank has ignited the culture of savings and has brought banking closer to its valued customers than before. 

He commended the bank for its consistence increase in deposits and net profit after tax. 

Mr. Ananga was however worried about the refusal of loan defaulters to pay off their loans on time and threatened to use all available means including court actions to recover those overdue loans. 

He said the prospect of the bank for the year 2016 looks promising as it hopes to strategically focus on agency expansion and improvement in its ICT platform to stimulate the efficiency while working to increase customer’s satisfaction. 

The Navrongo MCE, Dr. Stanislus Kandingdi, and the outgoing Deputy Upper East Regional Minister, Daniel Syme, impressed on customers of the bank to support the activities of the bank to help it grow. 

According to them strategies adopted by the bank will come to nothing if shareholders do not support those interventions and advised clients to increase their shareholdings and also honor their loan obligations to enable the bank meet the minimum capital requirement by the Bank of Ghana.
 
Speaking to Radio Ghana’s Isaac Asare, the  Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, the Tamale Branch Manager, James Kusi Arko, commended the sterling achievements of the bank in the year under review and underscored the need for the bank to practically strategize and strive to widen its net worth and asset base for the benefit of the shareholders.


GBC