Merchant Bank to build on strong performance-MD

25/1/2007.
Merchant bank (fin)

Story: Boahene Asamoah
THE Managing Director of Merchant Bank, Ghana Limited, Mr Blaise O. Mankwa, has said that the bank will build on its strong performance last year to deliver better services for its customers in the coming months.
Speaking at a cocktail reception for its customers in Accra, Mr Mankwa said “our performance in the past year has been one of the strongest in the history of the bank”
The Managing Director said “total assets increased from about ¢1.9 trillion to ¢3.4 trillion, an increase of over 70 per cent.”
He said the bank provided about $100 million facilities to support business growth and development in the country.
Mr Mankwa said the bank last year established and deepened its relationships with external partners to provide customers with the needed support to get their businesses going.
“I am sure you all heard the news about the $40 million facilities we obtained from Afrieximbank of Cairo and the $10 million Letters of Credit facilities we had from IFC”, he stated, adding that “in the coming year, we expect to obtain some more of such facilities over and above what we obtained last year”.
On branch expansion, Mr Mankwa said the bank would add four more branches to bring the total number of branches to 17 by the end of the year.
He said the bank was determined to make its services available at many more locations within the shortest possible time.
The Managing Director said management was re-organising its Corporate Banking Department to focused on customer needs.
“It will be a department re-positioned to partner your business in the true sense of the word. Our new Corporate Relationship Managers will be specialists in various industries”, he said.
Again, he said, the bank’s Retail Banking Division established in 2005 was also coming out very strongly, adding that “ at last year's Corporate Initiative Ghana (CIG) Banking Awards ceremony, it was adjudged second in the rankings, which is a very significant achievement after only a year in operation.