Proposed HFC Bank gets a boost

Union Bank and Union Homes, both of Nigeria, are to take up major stakes in the proposed HFC Bank, the brain child of Ghana's Home Finance Company (HFC) Limited.

Mr Godwin A. Thompson Oboh, Chief Executive of Union Bank of Nigeria, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) Business Desk in an interview that Union Bank is putting up an additional 20 percent in the new bank, which is expected to bring a new bite and practice into the banking industry.

Mr Oboh spoke to the GNA after speaking at the 16th Federation of African Public Relations Associations (FAPRA) Conference currently underway in Accra.

Union Bank already has a 12.5 percent in HFC.

He said the bank would come on stream "as soon as HFC and the Bank of Ghana are able to work out details of a banking license."

He said the deal is at an "advanced stage" and expressed the hope that the physical edifice of HFC Bank would be out soon.

Mr Oboh said Africa has a huge potential in her people and institutions and urged governments to start looking inward to tap the talents and resources of the institutions they head.

He expressed regret that most African governments spend time and money looking for foreign investors when the same capital could be sourced from within their own countries.