Zenith Bank MD rallies industry to support economy

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank Ghana, Daniel Asiedu, says Ghana’s economic prospects are bright and banks must strategise to support the productive sector aggressively to facilitate the country’s return to a high growth path.

Mr. Asiedu made these comments when he was interviewed by World Finance, the influential UK-based finance and business publication, at the London Stock Exchange in July on how Ghanaian banks should position themselves to manage changes in the economic and regulatory environments.

While admitting to challenges the economy has been undergoing in recent times, the highly-respected bank chief expressed his confidence in projections of a strong rebound for the economy in 2016-17, and urged banks to support the government’s efforts in this regard.

“You could say that the economy’s growth has been sliding. And this is attributable to inflation, depreciation of the cedi, and the energy crisis. Having said that, of course, then you look at how growth has been projected -- next year we are looking at a growth rate of about 6.4 percent, and that should rise to about 7.8 percent in 2017. Inflation currently is about 16.9 percent, and that has been projected to close the year at 12 percent; and then next year we are looking at a rate of about 10.2 percent. When you put all this together, you will see that the future looks bright.

“As an industry, what we have to do is to look at the productive sector and support it aggressively. We have to also look at the companies that are exporting and also support those,” he said.

Ghana is currently implementing a programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that is targetted at restoring macroeconomic stability and high economic growth after two difficult years. The government is also introducing initiatives to increase exports to create a stable currency.

Mr. Asiedu said as a financial institution playing an intermediary role, Zenith Bank is optimistic about the future and wants to be visible in its support for the government, through deepening its activities in key strategic sectors and enabling those goals to be realised.

Speaking on the subject of tighter regulations in the Ghanaian banking industry, he observed that banks are generally better-off in a well-regulated environment, especially since the recent global financial crisis vividly underscored the dangers of lax regulation.

“Customers now have more confidence in the industry; the international community -- especially correspondent banks -- have a lot of confidence in us; the system is more transparent, and so you have nothing to worry about.”

Sharing insights about Zenith on the subject of regulation, he stated: “As a bank, even before regulation was stepped up, we had been built on a culture of compliance and very strong controls. Most of the things we do are things that have been designed as a result of the experience we have acquired over time, so that whatever we do, we have in the back of our minds we need to ensure the system is quite tight.

“In West Africa, we are the first bank to be licenced by Visa to do acquiring, and for Visa to give you that platform it should tell you the confidence they have in your system.

“We have also had calls to partner with the regulator -- the Bank of Ghana -- for some of the systems they intend to roll-out; and when the National Risk Assessment Committee was set up, we were nominated to represent the banking industry. So we think that we’re on the right path because we’ve positioned the bank along those lines.”

Zenith Bank Ghana, whose parent Zenith Bank Plc is listed on the Nigeria and London Stock Exchanges, is one of the industry’s strongest brands with sturdy financial footing, a culture of innovation, and a passion for customer service excellence.

In 2014 Zenith won what is regarded as an Oscar in the banking industry, when it picked up the Bank of the Year in Ghana prize at The Banker Awards in the UK.