Accra, Aug. 23, GNA – The Ghana International Bank (GHIB), is enhancing the capacities of its correspondent banks to ensure high standards of compliance required in facilitating cross-border trade in Africa.
That, the Bank said, had become necessary to fill the USD$120 billion trade financing gap, at a time that many foreign banks are exiting various African market, which could hamper business activities on the continent.
To mitigate the challenge, Mr Dean Adansi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), said, the GHIB was building the capacity of its more than 70 counterparty and correspondent banks to increase trade financing in Africa.
He said this at the just ended CNVERGE conference in London, held on the theme, “The Risk/Opportunity Interplay for African Trade”.
“At a time when other financial institutions have de-risked and exiting the Sub-Saharan Africa region, GHIB has elected to build capacity in the region and finance trade on the continent,” Mr Adansi said.
He added that: “During the recent financial crisis in Ghana, GHIB continued to finance trade even as other banks retreated and de-risked. Given the important role of treating advancing growth in our markets, it is imperative that we find and implement solutions to promote trade activity.”
He stated that despite the challenges associated with trade financing and the impact of recent withdrawal of foreign banks on the continent, GHIB remained focused on increasing financing support to stimulate economic growth across Africa.
“In all of this, GHIB’s approach has been to keep faith with correspondent banks on the continent to enable them to provide quality services to their clients,” Mr Adansi said.
He noted that in the past five years, GHIB had been at the forefront of trade financing in Anglophone West Africa (excluding Nigeria), having handled US$6.5 billion in documentary trade collections.
“Additionally, GHIB has successfully executed more than $600 million in secondary market trade finance transactions and $1.3 billion in primary trade finance transactions within the region during the same period,” he said.
The Ghana International Bank was incorporated in the United Kingdom with a unique mandate to support the economies of Ghana and the wider African continent.
The Bank executes its mandate by leveraging market knowledge and strong relationships to promote trade and companies’ business growth, while delivering cost-effective services to individuals and drive sustainable economic development.
GHIB focuses on six key areas: treasury and global markets, trade finance, corporate and institutional banking, retail and small business banking, correspondent banking, and payment solutions.
GNA