By: Mabel Adorkor Annang
Discussions on the New Development Bank Ghana, DBG, is still taking center stage as stakeholders engage in successful approaches on how the bank can serve its core mandate and be beneficial to Ghanaians.
The Establishment of DBG is to address market failures in the credit market and thereby increase the availability of medium to long term finance to enable Ghanaian businesses to facilitate economic transformation and job creation.
DBG as a wholesale and non-deposit taking bank requires no branch network and has a very small staff.
During a Stakeholder engagement organised by the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research, ISSER, themed ‘National Development Bank and Sustainable Financing in Ghana’, Prof. Peter Quartey said the success of DBG hinges on the appointment of competent managers, good corporate guidance and must be devoid of political interference.
Prof. Quartey called for the strengthening and enforcement of regulations to avoid another financial sector cleanup.
He added that lessons must be learned from successful development banks in other countries which have strong structures that enable them to appoint those qualified to lead the bank.
“There is no doubt that we need long-term financing. What we are providing is short-term, but certain investments require long-term financing. Unfortunately, we have given our banks universal licences and so all of them go into retail and other more profitable ventures than lending to the sectors which will transform the economy and that’s why we need a national development bank.” he intimated.
Acting Director of the Financial Division of the Ministry of Finance, Sampson Akligoh said the governance structure will enable DBG to pursue its mandate professionally while maintaining financial viability to give comfort to stakeholders and financiers of the bank.
Managing Director of the Agricultural Development Bank, Dr. John Mensah said ADB is excited about DBG as it will help bridge the existing gap between commercial banking and Ghana’s developmental agenda.
Dr. Mensah urged government to change its approach with the new DBG, by making it independent in terms of appointing leadership.
“In the case of ADB, you can see that there have been changes of CEOs upon CEOs not based on the right mentality for a development bank, but based on who is in power. The issue is that we have to look at performance and make sure there is sustenance in terms of the human resource and corporate governance, at least for some period, so that whatever we are experiencing or whatever we are going to introduce will not be cut down by political changes,” he said.
