Ministry of Finance Submits List of Board Members to Bank of Ghana – Sources

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said the Development Bank of Ghana will start operations in July 2021

• A list of board members has been submitted to the Bank of Ghana for approval in order to launch the operations of the Development Bank of Ghana.

• The bank should start operations by the end of July

• In May of this year, the government obtained a loan of 170 million euros for the creation of the Bank

The Ministry of Finance has submitted a list of board members to the Bank of Ghana for approval as part of the development bank of Ghana’s operations launch processes.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the board members, once approved, will pave the way for the Bank to begin its full operations which are expected to take place by the end of July this year.

Director of Financial Services at the Ministry of Finance, Samson Akligoh had previously assured that the creation of the Development Bank of Ghana would complement the capacities of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).

Plans to establish DBG began after Ghana secured a € 170 million loan facility from the European Commission in May this year.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, interacting with reporters after the agreement was signed, explained that the guaranteed loan was due to be repaid in about 15 years.

He said the facility comes with one of the lowest interest rates of 0.5% with a 5-year moratorium.

“This is a facility with one of the lowest interest rates, barely half-zero percent, with a maturity of 15 to 20 years with a five-year moratorium granted to us. The essence of this is to ensure that institutions are able to borrow against their own credit history and balance sheet without additional burden on the central government, ”he said.

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo also assured that the funds will be used for the intended purpose.

Speaking after a signing ceremony for the creation of the bank in Belgium last May, the President stressed that the bank, when operational, will meet the highest standards, scrutiny and best practices development banks around the world.

The Development Bank of Ghana will serve as a wholesale entity that will offer collateral investment instruments to appeal to universal banks to lend to critical growth sectors.