BY NAA DZAGBLEY AGO
The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has reaffirmed its commitment to achieving its strategic goals through targeted initiatives aimed at enhancing growth, improving performance and strengthening stakeholder relationships.
The assurance was given during the Bank’s annual health walk held in Accra under the theme, “Beyond Banking: Towards Better Health.” The event brought together staff from ADB branches across the country, alongside customers, suppliers and other key stakeholders.
Speaking to the media after the approximately six-kilometre walk, the Managing Director of ADB, Edward Ato Sarpong, said the annual exercise is designed to re-energise staff while recognising the contributions of stakeholders who have supported the Bank’s strong performance during the first half of the year.
He said management places high priority on the health and well-being of employees, stressing that a healthy workforce is critical to improving productivity and sustaining organisational success.
Mr. Sarpong noted that with about 90 branches nationwide, including 27 in Accra, the annual event provides an opportunity for employees across the country to reconnect, strengthen relationships and prepare for the second half of the year.
“A healthy body leads to healthy performance. We do this every year to bring the team together. Sometimes it’s important to meet as a bank, walk together, eat together, play games and build the bond that the bank requires to move us to the next level,” he said.
He explained that the initiative forms part of the Bank’s broader strategy to keep employees motivated as it pursues ambitious business objectives.
According to him, the health walk also serves as a platform to recharge staff following what he described as a strong performance in the first six months of the year.
“We want to grow our deposits and become one of the top three banks in Ghana. That requires a certain level of employee engagement because leadership alone cannot do it. The performance for the first six months is good by all standards. We are doing well as a bank, but we need to renew our energy for the second half of the year,” Mr. Sarpong stated.
He said this year’s event deliberately extended participation beyond staff to include customers, suppliers and other business partners as part of efforts to strengthen collaboration and create greater value.
“We have our partners, customers and suppliers walking with us. The intent is to integrate all of them and ensure our relationship managers look beyond the traditional way of banking to create greater value,” he added.
On agricultural financing, Mr. Sarpong disclosed that ADB is expanding support for farmers by diversifying its services to cater for players across the agricultural value chain.
He said nearly 35 per cent of the Bank’s loan portfolio is dedicated to agriculture, reflecting its longstanding commitment to the sector.
He said ADB is also increasing support for smallholder farmers through a dedicated financing programme that offers affordable loans to help expand their operations.
“We are proud to say that close to 35 per cent of our loan book sits in agriculture, which means we are doing something right. We are now going beyond and looking for very small-scale farmers. GH¢10,000 here, GH¢20,000 there for tomato farmers and other small-scale farmers that we want to help grow. We have earmarked resources and funds aimed at supporting them at very minimal interest rates,” he said.
Mr. Sarpong, however, urged beneficiaries of the facility to honour their repayment obligations to enable the Bank to extend similar support to more farmers.
Deputy Managing Director of Operations, Sylvia Nyante, said the annual health walk has evolved from an internal staff activity into a broader stakeholder engagement platform.
She said the Bank will continue engaging existing and prospective clients while strengthening partnerships to support business growth.
“Health is very key to everyone. This year we decided to scale up the annual walk by including our customers and exhibitors because, beyond health, we want corporate entities to deepen their relationship with ADB,” she said.
