Minimum Share Capital would affect Operation of Rural Banks - ARB

Bolgatanga, July 31, GNA - Members of the North-Eastern and Western Chapters of the Association of Rural Banks (ARB) have expressed worry about the directives from Bank of Ghana (BOG) to increase the minimum share capital for the operations of rural banks to 150,000 Ghana Cedis. The members expressed the worry at a four-day training workshop on advocacy theories and practices for business associations organized by the Business Advocacy Centre (BUSAC) in Bolgatanga. It was aimed at building the capacity of Members of the Association to enable them write good proposal to source funding, and to successfully implement advocacy actions as well as disseminate business advocacy concepts throughout the country.

The Participants were taken through topics including "The Importance of Advocacy, The Steps in Advocacy in the Private Sector, Identifying and Influencing Target Groups, Successful Implementation of Advocacy Actions, and Proposal Writing. Mr John Asabigi, President of the North-Eastern Chapter of the ARB who expressed the sentiment said the upward adjustment of the share capital could lead to the closure of many rural banks because it would be difficult for them to meet such requirements. He explained that the inability of the banks to operate as a result of the adjustment may invariably affect government policies and plans especially the Poverty Reduction Strategy II since rural banks were the main conduit for funds for microfinance businesses operated in rural communities in the country.

Mr Asabigi commended BUSAC for the advocacy workshop and said the workshop would equip and enhance the advocacy skills of the participants to write good business proposals and applications to enable them to successfully source funding to implement advocacy programmes. Messrs Richard Ananga and Ernest Aayel both consultants to the BUSAC urged the participants to put the knowledge acquired at the training into good use at their individual work places. They asked the participants to endeavour to identify and articulate problems confronting their organizations and develop advocacy programmes to address them as well as provide a strategy for influencing the relevant targets for change and improvement.