ADB workers against govt selling its shares in bank

Accra, June 26, GNA - Workers of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday declared that they were against the sale of the 48 per cent share holding of the Bank of Ghana to Standard Bank - South Africa, represented in Ghana by Stanbic Ghana. The workers told a press briefing in Accra that the agricultural sector of the country was of strategic security importance hence the finances of the sector must be entrusted to a truly Ghanaian bank that was owned by government and Ghanaians.

They also expressed their dissatisfaction at the "illegal and improper" actions of the management of Stanbic Bank to convince the local union of ADB to accept the deal for better terms and conditions of service without the knowledge of the management. They contended that even if the shares under reference must be sold, a market deal which included 60 per cent of the shares be floated at the stock exchange to individuals, while 20 per cent be given to agric-related and commercial entities and the other 20 per cent to management and the staff of the ADB.

Mr Sanjay Mirchandani, Pubic Relations Officer of the Senior Staff Association, ADB, said the commitment of the bank to the agricultural sector remained strong and the bank, in 2006 maintained a portfolio of 544.0 billion cedis. In spite of the noise being generated from Stanbic Bank, their share in all banks' total agricultural portfolio had not exceeded three per cent since 2000, ADB workers said, adding, "their commitment in 2006 was only 4.9 billion cedis".

The press conference was organised by the Senior Staff Association and local union.

Mr Mirchandani noted that the ADB's dividend payment to Government and Bank of Ghana in 2006 was 32 billion cedis as against 14.0 billion for 2005. The profits for the respective periods were about 107 billion cedis in 2006 and 75 billion cedis in 2005. "Any serious assessment of those returns must be done by adjusting for the inherent risk in the agricultural sector."

Mr Mirchandani said ADB had increased its stated capital from 7.0 billion cedis to 200.0 billion cedis from internally generated funds and this was the highest by any bank in Ghana He said ADB had attained a status where African Development Bank was willing to wrap it with its "triple A rating" to enable it to borrow from the international financial market at the investment grade level which comes at a time when Ghana's sovereign rating could not provide this cover.

"ADB's international ratings made it possible for it to raise medium-term funding from the international market on a number of occasions for which the government and the Bank of Ghana were the beneficiaries."

Mr Mirchandani said the Bank has introduced programmes like smallholder mango project and livestock development project, among others to facilitate poverty reduction, generate employment and environmental protection in the project area. He stated that ADB had proved equal to the task by not relying on budgetary appropriations but largely by successfully competing in the market for deposits and as such it had the needed capacity to control long-term and lower cost currency funds for investment in the agricultural sector.

Mr. Mirchandani said the environmental conditions, which included risk management and public policy for agricultural lending in South Africa and Ghana, were different.

"That is why the so called technical capacity for agricultural lending has not been replicated by Standard Bank in Ghana." He said the strategic interest of the Stanbic Bank Group or any other foreign bank group in ADB would be in the fact that ADB was well grounded, had a wide branch network, strong brand, respected skills base, Western Union proceeds and profitable equity investments. 26 June 07