Advans Ghana to provide farmers with credit facilities

Advans Savings and Loans, as part of its strategic plan to boost agriculture, will offer credit facilities to smallholder farmers in the rural communities to expand their operations and increase production.

The financial entity says investment in the agricultural sector would enable farmers to produce more products to serve both the domestic and international space and stir economic growth.

Mr Steven Duchatelle, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)of Advans Group, said this in Accra at a programme to mark the 10th Anniversary of Advans Ghana Savings and Loans on the theme: "Growing Together:10 Years and Beyond.

He said the Company would also develop products to address the personal financial needs of small business clients and their families, especially in the areas of education and housing.

Mr Duchatelle said Advans Ghana would continue to be client-centric with the focus on serving customers with offers tailored to their needs, in addition its quality services.

He stated that a recent study showed that 93 per cent of clients felt that Advans Ghana's services had improved their quality of life, with the top outcome being the growth in their businesses.

"Advans will focus on deploying alternative delivery channels, especially digital ones, to offer proximity and convenience to clients to improve efficiency and clients’ experience," he stated.

The Group CEO said over the next years, Advans Group would continue to guide and support Advans Ghana in its mission to become the preferred financial partner of small businesses in the country and serve them in a responsible and sustainable manner.

Touching on its achievements, he said Advans Ghana was one of the first financial institutions in the country; and the first of its affiliates, to introduce a mobile banking service.

At present, he said, digital financial services was on the rise in the country, with 40 per cent of the population having a mobile money account, while 50 per cent received digital payments in 2017.

Advans Ghana, in 2015, launched the Mobibank, a self-service menu available on a client's mobile phone to ensure access to their service when they wanted, thus helping to reduce manual financial transactions.

Mr Duchatelle said the financial institution had established a call centre and a toll free number, which received over 20,000 calls in 2017.

He explained that the call centres had improved customer knowledge on products and services through enquiries and complaints management and monitored customer satisfaction and clients’ preferences on their products.

Advans Savings and Loans is the leading international microfinance group in Asia and Africa, serving over 800,000 clients with 845 million Euros in outstanding loans and 435 million Euros in deposits.