Business News of Wednesday, 7 November 2012
Analyst expected that the recent increase in the stated capital for banks should have brought some consolidation but it appears that expectation was not met, as most local banks moved to raise capital on their own.
Similar moves however in Nigeria reduced the number of banks in that country drastically from 89 to 25. Mr. Ekpe told JOYBUSINESS there should be a deliberate effort to ensure that Ghanaian banks run the economy.
“I have argued and will continue to argue that if Ghana wants to develop seriously, they must nurture three or four banks [that] can finance development projects.
“There is no country in the world where you can develop successfully without a large number of local banks committed to the local economy.”
He further stated that in countries like Britain, America and Germany and South Africa “all the big banks are [localised], there is an imperative logic for that.”
He insisted that running an economy with a large number of little banks “doesn’t make sense”.
“You don’t develop a country that way, you need three or four large banks who will play a catalytic role in [developing the nation.]”
Anorld Ekpe is expected to step down as Group Chief Executive by the end of this year and hand over to Thierry Tanoh.
Mr. Tanoh is expected to take over from the beginning of next year.