NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the German Investment and Development Corporation (DEG), and the African Capitalisation Fund (ACF) have together invested about GH¢46 million ($20 million) into one of Ghana’s leading microfinance banks, UT Bank.

With regards to the resultant shareholder structure, DEG owns 13.5 percent, with IFC and ACF having 10.1 percent each.

According to the CEO Prince Kofi Amoabeng, the bank will leverage on the partnership with the institutions and implement its strategy to establish itself as a clear market leader in SME financing.

“We have always indicated that we are for the SME sector so retail banking is the core banking that we are pursuing. It’s a very challenging time for all of us because we have a situation where interest rates are high but we are still focused on serving the SME sector. A lot of banks are doing what I will call cheap banking; you get the deposits and put it in treasury bills and you declare profits. We think we want to give opportunities so that people in this country (Ghana) will realize their potential”, he said.