Bank Crisis: We will overcome challenges – Nduom

The president of Groupe Nduom has assured Ghanaians their investments are safe with indigenous financial institutions, despite the challenges bedeviling the banking sector.

Seven local banks have folded up over the past two years over regulatory breaches, leading to panic withdrawals in the sector.

Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, who operates GN Bank and Gold Coast Fund Management, has expressed concern about developments within the sector, with an appeal to customers to have faith in indigenous banks.

“No financial institution that invests funds on behalf of its customers in medium and long term projects can survive if its customers showed up one day and demanded their funds be paid back all at the same time. The same rings true for our companies. So we will ask respectfully for our customers to remain and stay with us,” Dr. Nduom said in a statement.

He added: “We support reforms in the financial sector and this too we will explain as we go across the country in town hall meetings and media encounters.

“If Ghanaians will become prosperous, we must have strong indigenous financial institutions. If Ghana hopes to work “Beyond Aid”, we must support our own, the ones who have proven to deserve the nation’s support.”

Below is the full statement:

WE WILL OVERCOME THIS CHALLENGE!

I have been gone from Ghana for about three weeks. I have been on a business trip to encourage Ghanaians and non Ghanaians interested in doing business in Ghana to invest through our company, Groupe Nduom. Back home, panic withdrawals from financial institutions have continued. I have written about this. I have asked our citizens to stand by our indigenous institutions, especially the ones with good governance structures and positive track records. I have even suggested that partisan politics must not be allowed to destroy our financial well-being.

I am coming back next week to join the management, staff and directors of Gold Coast Fund Management and GN Bank in all the ten regions to prove that 25 years of creating value for our customers will continue uninterrupted.

No financial institution that invests funds on behalf of its customers in medium and long term projects can survive if its customers showed up one day and demanded their funds be paid back all at the same time. The same rings true for our companies. So we will ask respectfully for our customers to remain and stay with us.

No customer of a Groupe Nduom financial Institution has lost one pesewa in 25 years. By God’s Grace and our Hard Work, this will never happen!

From next week, we will demonstrate to GN Bank’s 1.2 million customers and Gold Coast Fund Management’s 800,000 customers that their funds are safe with us. We will show our customers that GN Bank has one of the lowest non performing loan portfolios in Ghana, at less than 3%. We will demonstrate to them that Gold Coast has invested their funds in safe Government of Ghana development projects such as roads, bridges, schools and private sector job creating projects they can see. We want them to understand that we are working hand in hand with government to make sure the projects we have invested in are successful.

We support reforms in the financial sector and this too we will explain as we go across the country in town hall meetings and media encounters.

If Ghanaians will become prosperous, we must have strong indigenous financial institutions. If Ghana hopes to work “Beyond Aid”, we must support our own, the ones who have proven to deserve the nation’s support.

Together, we will overcome the current challenge. God bless our efforts.