CJA kicks against sale of ADB to Stanbic

Accra, July 27, GNA - The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has become the latest group to kick against the request of Stanbic Bank of South Africa to buy the shares of Bank of Ghana in Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).

The CJA, a pressure group made up of opposition parties, said: "The CJA is convinced that the grounds for off-loading the shares of ADB are clearly unacceptable. The process is not transparent and could lend itself to fraudulent manipulation by corrupt officials."

Staff of ADB, TUC, Socialist Forum of Ghana and various individuals and organisations have voiced their opposition to off-loading the Central Bank's 48 per cent shares in ADB to Stanbic Bank.

CJA said in a statement released in Accra on Thursday that, the main rationale for the deal was contained in recommendations from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), which argued that the fact that the Central Bank, being a regulator of banking, was a shareholder in ADB created a conflict of interest situation. "As a result of this blatantly absurd position, the World Bank and IMF are pressuring the Government of Ghana to off-load the Central Bank's share in the ADB."

However, CJA said it saw no conflict of interest in the Bank of Ghana (BOG) owning a little over 48 per cent shares in ADB pointing out that BOG had set up an independent trust to manage its equity. The CJA also pointed out that ADB was doing "fairly well", moving to the fourth largest bank in Ghana with net assets of more than 700 million dollars.

It said ADB's involvement in Western Union Money Transfer accounted for between 300 and 400 million per annum, while it had also acquired 10 per cent equity in Ghana International Bank and a significant equity in agricultural enterprises.

"The fact that agriculture, which accounts for 45 per cent of GDP, only receives six per cent of total bank lending is a pointer to a serious policy failure in the management of the sector. It is a matter that requires urgent national attention. That is a job for the Government and not the ADB."

CJA said there was no guarantee that Stanbic would continue to maintain all the strategic branches of ADB and focus on agriculture if it was allowed to take hold of ADB.

It asked Stanbic to expand its operations into agriculture, if its interest in the sector was genuine, or establish its own agricultural bank without having to take over the assets of ADB.