The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has held the second “Meet the community series” in Wa with the assurance of a comprehensive strategy to contribute immensely towards the agriculture agenda of government.
Making the announcement the Deputy Managing Director of ADB, Mr. Alhassan Yakubu -Tali said the Bank was in the process of providing financial support for beneficiaries of the government’s Planting For Food Programme and also the One District One Warehouse initiatives.
The “ADB Meet The Community Series” is an initiative introduced by the current management of the bank to bring the bank closer to its customers and communities within which it operates.
It also serves as a platform to interact and get feedback from its customers to help improve service delivery.
The maiden event was launched in Tamale few months ago, followed by the second event in Wa. This highlights the strategic importance the Bank places on its operations and customers within the three (3) Northern Regions of the country.
According to the Deputy Managing Director, the Bank is committed to increasing its financing to the agricultural sector by paying critical attention to every stage of the agric value chain.
“For a sector that contributes about 22 percent of the country Gross Domestic Product (GDP), it is essential that adequate financing is provided to support the sector” he said.
“We have already established Agric Desks at various branches to facilitate agriculture financing and advisory services and also have expanded our agric division by establishing an additional department to specialize in Agric Value Chain business” he added.
He stressed that management was motivated by the setting-up of the Ghana Incentive-based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL) by the Bank of Ghana to encourage financial institutions to invest more in Agriculture, adding that ADB would leverage on this system to improve agric financing.
“Whilst focusing on Agric, we are also embarking on branch expansion and introduction of new products and services to enhance our one-stop-shop banking service agenda” he said.
The Upper West Regional Minister, Mr. Sulemana Alhassan commended ADB for their support towards the growth of the agricultural sector of the country.
