By Morkporkpor Anku
Accra, Sept. 23, GNA- Zenith Bank Ghana Limited has organised its 19th health walk to forge unity and collaboration among stakeholders to exchange ideas for development.
The 7. 6 kilometer walk brought together management, staff, partners and customers of the Bank to exercise coupled with some brisk aerobics.
The route took participants through key streets in the city, including the Ridge Roundabout, Accra Financial Centre, and the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange, before returning to the Zenith Heights building.
The event was on the theme: “19 Years of Innovation and Excellence.”
The Acting Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana, Mr Adeoye Ifedayo, and Mrs Freda Yahan Duplan, the bank’s Board Chair were in attendance.
Mr. Henry Chinedu Onwuzurigbo, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank (Ghana) Limited, said staff rarely exercise and it was might for them to workout and socialise.
He said their initial plan was to ensure that not only those in the Accra Region benefitfrom the health walk but extended to other 11 regions out of the 16 regions they operate in.
“We are trying to see how we can push it to the other regions in coming celebrations, it is something that is in the pipeline,” he added.
The Managing Director said the Bank even shut down its elevators for a week to prepare to staff for the health walk, where staff use the staircase.
He said apart from the health benefits that come from it, they believe that it was something that they should be doing regularly.
“Some people have suggested that we do it even more regularly than once in a year,” he added.
Mr Onwuzurigbo said the Bank had adopted some schools with support for sole needy but intelligent students that they take care of, some at the University level as part of their corporate social responsibility.
“It might interest you to know that some of them have graduated, where some of them are medical doctors and engineers etc,” he said.
He said currently the Bank was supporting other partners to renovate the children’s ward of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.
Mr Onwuzurigbo said as part of the celebrations, the Bank had decided to enter into a partnership with African Guarantee Fund.
The Fund helps to provide a sort of guarantee to people, who want to borrow money from banks, but do not have adequate security, so the Fund provides up to 50 per cent guarantee.
He said more interestingly if the business was a woman-led business, they take up to 70 per cent of the guarantee.
The Managing Director said the Bank had always enhance its technological advances to better serve its customers, because the world these days was driven by technology.
He expressed the hope that the Bank would continue to operate in this environment,supporting the economy to grow.
GNA