Coronavirus: Banks hold the key to recovery of economy - CBG

Daniel Wilson Addo, the Managing Director (MD) of the Consolidated Bank Ghana (CBG), says banks have crucial roles to play towards the recovery of the economy post-COVID-19.

“...although COVID-19 has slow down the economy, banks could be essential to the recovery...As banks, we are very much aware of this greater responsibility, because COVID-19 has taught us to show more empathy than we used to. We have also taken up the role of educators, and I believe we will ensure customers and small scale enterprises stay in businesses,” he said.

Mr Addo said this in a statement at the “Ghana’s Most Respected CEOs breakfast Series” on the theme, “Bringing the Economy Back to Life: the Role of the Banking Sector”.

The fifth edition of the CEO Breakfast Series brought together seasoned business leaders and banking experts to deliberate on how financial institutions could successfully navigate the COVID crisis, support businesses, revitalise and revive the economy, and ultimately spur economic growth.

Mr Addo said the CBG was adjusting to the needs of customers to support SMEs in ways such as lending to them and introducing them to key products that focused on helping them to grow.

“Banking is a customer-focused business and we at CBG have been very innovative in a time like this to ensure business continuity and customer satisfaction. To enable effective communication, we have beefed up our contact centres, leveraging technology for efficient customer service delivery.

“We are communicating more with customers on digital platforms, social media pages, and updating them on the activities of the bank now and then,” the MD said.

“Our business model as a resilient and agile Bank is to be poised and play our role as a financial institution to help customers and businesses. We will continue to stand with customers during these difficult times”, he added.

Mr Addo advised businesses to learn from the pandemic bearing in mind that business disruptions and pandemics were inevitable.