SHAI RURAL BANK MAKES PROFIT (PAGE 55, DEC 23, 2010)

THE Shai Rural Bank at Dodowa recorded a net profit of GH¢35,490.00 in 2009 as against the GH¢3,786.00 the bank recorded in 2008.
The Board Chairman of the bank, Mr Ebenezer Djagbletey Djanie, said at the 29th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the bank at Dodowa, that despite the challenging year the bank was able to meet its financial obligation to post the modest net profit.
He appealed to the shareholders of the bank to buy more shares to enable the bank to achieve more successes.
Mr Djanie said the bank’s assets had equally grown from GH¢1,540,910.00 in 2008 to GH¢2,367,876 representing a growth of 34.92 per cent over the previous year’s performance.
He said the bank currently operated two agencies located at Adentan and Ashaiman, which according to the Board Chairman contributed to the growth of the bank.
Mr Djanie said computerisation of operations of the Head Office at Dodowa in August 2009 had brought efficiency and effectiveness in the turnaround time of the bank and hinted that the Adentan and Ashaiman agencies would soon be hooked on to the computerised network.
Mr Djanie disclosed that the bank had introduced a Micro Finance Operations and had developed its mobile banking business to cover all clients within the community in which the bank operates.
That, he said, included loans for funeral, school fees, medical bills and church projects, among others .
The board chairman said the bank had plans to migrate from the current interest- based revenue to commission –based revenue such as the ATM and SMS banking.
The Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank Ltd , Mr Eric Osei Bonsu, in a speech read on his behalf by the Head of Internal Control Department of the ARB APEX Bank, Mr Hyginus S. Zon, commended the bank for its achievements and said those achievements must be consolidated.
He emphasised that the banking industry was undergoing a rapid technological transformation with the introduction of electronic banking and expressed the hope that the bank would invest in ICT to improve its operational efficiency.
Mr Osei Bonsu said some of the innovations were :e-Zwich, Electronic Financial Analysis and Surveillance Systems (e FASS), Cheque Codeline Clearing (CCC) and Automated Clearing House (ACH).
He stated that the Apex Bank would also migrate its star product, the Apex Link Money Transfer Product onto an ICT Platform very soon to make it more efficient.
The Dangme West District Chief Executive, Mr Emmanuel Odoi Ayimi Lartey, commended the bank, and appealed to citizens of the area to patronise the services of the two rural banks in the district.
He noted that the presence of the two banks had contributed to the elimination of poverty in the area.
Mr Lartey further commended the Shai Rural Bank for instituting a scholarship scheme for the needy and urged shareholders to increase their shares.