Coronavirus: Rural and Community banks remain resilient – Apex Bank

Rural, and Community banks have been commended for instituting stringent and innovative strategies to remain resilient amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. George Kwaku Annor, Ashanti Regional Manager of the ARB Apex Bank, who gave the commendation, said the ability of rural and community banks across the country to remain in operation was a clear demonstration of public confidence in the rural banking sector.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency on the impact of COVID-19 on rural banking, he said the sector was on course to provide the needed financial support to rural and community businesses to improve socio-economic activities in those areas.

“We know the capacities of the rural and community banks through strong monitoring and evaluation systems and will want to assure the people that the rural banking sector has the capacity and capability to meet all their financial needs”, Mr Annor emphasized.

He said the ARB Apex bank would continue to strengthen the capacities of rural and community banks to provide innovative and technologically driven financial services to sustain the confidence of clients.

This, according to Mr Annor, would help position the rural banking sector to play a leading role in the economic transformation agenda of the country.

Mr. Michael Aidoo, General Manager of the Sekyere Rural Bank, said the resilience and relevance of the rural banking sector was amply demonstrated during the peak of the covid-19.

He said amid the pandemic and the crisis in the banking sector, rural banks stood firm and rose to the occasion to provide critical financial support to distressed businesses and individuals to sustain their operations.

Mr. Aidoo, pointed out that, as a sector whose key role was to facilitate access to financial services in the rural and smaller towns, there were at times, that tougher decisions had to be made to meet customers’ needs while at the same time, ensuring smooth and sustainable operations amid COVID-19.

According to him the resilience and smooth operations of the rural banking sector contributed immensely to sustain the country’s economy during the peak of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Aidoo stressed the need for the Bank of Ghana to continuously support rural banks by empowering them through capacity building in the areas of training, technological infrastructure, and others, that would help improve their performance and reduce risks in their operations.