STANDARD Chartered Bank Ghana PLC has affirmed its unwavering commitment to Ghana, while supporting its clients in the market to achieve their ambitions.
Recently appointed Chairman of the Bank’s Board of Directors, Ebenezer Twum Asante, addressing shareholders in his first Annual General Meeting (AGM) affirmed Standard Chartered’s commitment to Ghana, expressing optimism that the future of the bank was bright and assuring that StanChart had the ability to emerge stronger.
He said, “We have a valuable franchise with strength and quality at its core, great client relationships, and the right team of people”. He noted that despite the headwinds in 2022 the Bank is seeing strong signs of a rebound as evidenced in its strong 1st half 2023 performance. “We have a robust business model and a clear strategy. We will continue to focus on opportunities that exist within our redefined risk appetite while taking advantage of technology to open new opportunities,” he added.
The AGM was the 53rd , held to present the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended December 31 2022 to its shareholders.
The Bank’s annual report highlighted a number of positives through a particularly challenging financial year in 2022 which saw it navigate tough economic headwinds.
The Board Chairman pledged to work assiduously with his team to meet the expectations of the Bank’s shareholders.
“As Chairman, I will continue to work with my colleagues on the Board, and with Management and Staff to build on the Bank’s dynamic role in Ghana to deliver long- term sustainable value to our shareholders,” he stated
Mr Asante spelt out five key areas he would focus his efforts.
He pledged to improve resilience to external shocks while driving strong, safe and long-term sustainable growth; strengthen governance and ethical standards; pursue the bank’s ambitions to deliver sustainable financing solutions; leverage the Bank’s network to drive global and intra-regional (AfCTFA) trade opportunities for businesses and create value and new opportunities through innovation and technology.
Being Ghana’s premier bank and having operated in the market for over 126 years, the Bank’s commitment to Ghana remains as strong as ever.
Through various initiatives, the bank continues to invest in the productive sectors of the economy in line with its brand promise “Here for good”.
In the year under review, the Bank provided educational grants to support 31 brilliant but needy students across the 5 public tertiary institutions to the tune of GH¢285,000 for a three-year period.
The bank continues to support and invest in the local communities through the Futuremakers initiative to tackle inequality and promote greater economic inclusion for the youth. Through various programmes focused on employability, education and entrepreneurship, Futuremakers supports disadvantaged young people, especially girls and people with visual impairments, to learn new skills and improve their chances of getting a job or starting their own business. The programmes include Women in Tech incubator, Goal, Youth to Work and Youth Employability Skills.
Through these and more Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC continues to show commitment to Ghana.
Throwing light on the Bank’s ‘Our new ways of working,’ Chief Executive Mansa Nettey of the Bank said “our goal is to be clientcentric and empower our people to offer memorable experiences at every client encounter.”
StanChart Ghana embarked on a Bank-wide service revolution through an intensive training for all staff with the aim of improving client experience across the Bank.
“We also provided additional training to frontline staff to support clients as they migrate to using digital channels,” she added.
On innovation, Madam Nettey said the Bank’s three-pronged innovation approach, which is to transform via digitalisation, leverage partnerships and build new business models, was well underway.
“Given the challenges, the innovation streams are focused on finding areas of opportunistic growth within our risk appetite,” she noted.
