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Committee for Joint Action kicks
against sale of ADB to Stanbic
Accra, July 27, GNA - The Committee for Joint Action (CJA)
has become the latest group to kick against the request of
Stanbic Bank of South Africa to buy the shares of Bank of
Ghana in Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).
The CJA, a pressure group made up of opposition parties,
said: "The CJA is convinced that the grounds for off-loading
the shares of ADB are clearly unacceptable. The process is
not transparent and could lend itself to fraudulent
manipulation by corrupt officials."
Staff of ADB, TUC, Socialist Forum of Ghana and various
individuals and organisations have voiced their opposition
to off-loading the Central Bank's 48 per cent shares in ADB
to Stanbic Bank.
CJA said in a statement released in Accra on Thursday that,
the main rationale for the deal was contained in
recommendations from the World Bank and International
Monetary Fund (IMF), which argued that the fact that the
Central Bank, being a regulator of banking, was a
shareholder in ADB created a conflict of interest situation.
"As a result of this blatantly absurd position, the World
Bank and IMF are pressuring the Government of Ghana to
off-load the Central Bank's share in the ADB."
However, CJA said it saw no conflict of interest in the Bank
of Ghana (BOG) owning a little over 48 per cent shares in
ADB pointing out that BOG had set up an independent trust to
manage its equity.
The CJA also pointed out that ADB was doing "fairly well",
moving to the fourth largest bank in Ghana with net assets
of more than 700 million dollars.
It said ADB's involvement in Western Union Money Transfer
accounted for between 300 and 400 million per annum, while
it had also acquired 10 per cent equity in Ghana
International Bank and a significant equity in agricultural
enterprises.
"The fact that agriculture, which accounts for 45 per cent
of GDP, only receives six per cent of total bank lending is
a pointer to a serious policy failure in the management of
the sector. It is a matter that requires urgent national
attention. That is a job for the Government and not the ADB."
CJA said there was no guarantee that Stanbic would continue
to maintain all the strategic branches of ADB and focus on
agriculture if it was allowed to take hold of ADB.
It asked Stanbic to expand its operations into agriculture,
if its interest in the sector was genuine, or establish its
own agricultural bank without having to take over the assets
of ADB.
GNA
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