KWAHU PRASO RURAL BANK GIVES MORE LOANS (PAGE 20, NOV 18)

THE Kwahu Praso Rural Bank, near Nkawkaw gave out GH¢363,780 as loans to its customers last year as against the GH¢204,822 it made available for the same purpose in 2007.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank, Mr Eric Kwakye Darfour made this known at the 14th annual general meeting of shareholders of the bank at Kwahu Praso at the weekend.
He gave the breakdown as agriculture (food crop production and maintenance of cocoa farms),
GH¢45,000; cottage industry,
GH¢52,000; transport, GH¢50,300; education, GH¢62,700; and others GH¢79,440.
According to Mr Darfour, the bank decided to increase its loan portfolio to support the people in its catchments area to expand their agricultural and other commercial ventures.
He said those who were also assisted for educational purposes used the facility to educate themselves or children, and added that the initiative was to eradicate poverty in the area.
Mr Darfour stated that the bank was able to give out more loans due to its splendid performance during the year under review.
He said its total income increased from GH¢146, 916 in 2007 to GH¢213165 in 2008 while deposits grew from GH¢714,490 to GH¢919,231 within the same period.
Mr Darfuor said the bank’s pre-tax profit increased from GH¢12,556 in 2006 to GH¢35,237 in 2007 but plummeted to GH¢29,302 in 2008.
He attributed the decrease to the inability of some of the beneficiaries of the loans to repay, and therefore, appealed to them to do so to enable others to benefit from the facility.
To improve the fortunes of the bank and serve customers better, Mr Darfuor announced the purchase of a Nissan Pick Up vehicle for its operations and a further training of its staff while the computerisation exercise being embarked on would be completed in 2011.
He added that the bank currently provided Western Union Money Transfer facilities as well as the e-Zwich, and appealed to people in the area and those outside the country to do business with it.
The Head of Human Capital and Administration Department of the ARB Apex Bank, Mrs Francisca Dedei Attipoe, who deputised for the Managing Director of the bank, Mr Eric Osei-Bonsu, commended the bank for its outstanding performance.
She however urged the board and management of the Kwahu Rural Bank to take note of the current competition within the banking sector and accelerate its modernisation drive to attract more customers.
Mrs Attipoe also briefed the shareholders of the bank on the current situation of rural banks some of which, she said, would be merged to enable them to stand firmly to serve the communities within their catchments area.