Mr Olatunji (second from left) with other officials of the bank at the event
Mr Olatunji (second from left) with other officials of the bank at the event

Shareholders of Access Bank Ghana have commended the bank for its strong return to profitabil­ity in the first half of the year from the effects of the Domes­tic Debt Exchange Programme which had a toll on the entire banking sector last year.

The commendation came during an interaction session held by the Ghana Stock Exchange for its listed members dubbed ‘Facts Behind the Figures’, a platform for listed companies to present their performance to key stake­holders, investors and the public.

Addressing the participants at the event, Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana, Olumide Olatunji, said the bank recorded an impressive 65 per cent year on year growth in profit-after-tax, 28 per cent growth in loans and ad­vances and a 19 per cent growth in total assets, an indication of stringent and sound financial measures employed by the bank.

Touching on the bank’s out­look for the rest of the year, Mr Olatunji said, “We will continue to invest in our digital infra­structure, enhance our customer experience and leverage strategic partnerships to serve our markets and customers better.”

He revealed that the bank would continue to pursue its ex­pansion drive through the open­ing of new branches and agency banking outlets to bring physical banking closer to customers.

In response to inquiries from some shareholders about sustain­ability and financial inclusion, Executive Director for Wholesale Banking at Access Bank, James Bruce, and Executive Director for Retail and Digital Bank, Pearl Nkrumah, highlighted the bank’s efforts at promoting financial inclusion and sustainability.

He informed the meeting of the involvement of the bank’s Board in driving its sustainabil­ity agenda to ensure staff and customers adhere to the bank’s sustainability standards.

Ms Nkrumah also touched on the specialised products and services the bank offers chil­dren, the youth and the elderly to drive financial inclusion.

The Chief Finance Offi­cer of the Bank, Mr Michael Gyabaah, also noted that Access Bank had demonstrated a strong and disciplined growth over time which has positioned it to return value to sharehold­ers.

He indicated that the bank remained in a strong financial position to support the Gha­naian economy to make full recovery from the challenges of 2022.

 BY KINGSLEY ASARE