‘Mobile banking must be properly regulated’

The Managing Director of Cal Bank, Mr Frank Adu Jnr, has sounded alarm bells about the increasing rate of mobile banking in the country.

He said mobile banking was not regulated by rules such as the reserve requirement of banks, as in the case of commercial banks guaranteeing the safety of the monies of clients.

According to him, there is no legislation as to who is responsible for the safety of the money when it is in cyber space.

Mr Adu was answering questions from students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) as part of an internship preparation programme being organised by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

The programme, which is being led by Mr Bernard Mensah, Managing Director, Global Head of Emerging Markets of the Bank of America Merrill Lynch, is to prepare the students for the global market and offer opportunity to eligible students to undergo internship leading to recruitment by the world renowned US bank. Foreign direct investment

Mr Adu, who was once the Chairman of the Council of the Ghana Stock Exchange, noted that politicians were always priding themselves with the contribution of foreign direct investment  to the growth of the economy and were continually  calling for more but were doing very little to increase the capacity of local industries.

He said it was therefore no wonder that the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) did not measure the contribution and growth of local investment, a situation he explained was part of the odds that went against local investors. Depreciation of Cedi

Mr Adu said many foreign investors obtained more returns on their investment in Africa than they would have secured in Europe.

He said that instead of mustering the will to increase the country’s competitiveness in the manufacturing and export industry, Ghana was importing almost everything, most of which were sub-standard, which required the use of foreign exchange.

Mr Mensah explained that the team from Bank of America Merrill Lynch would be visiting the University of Ghana, Legon; Ashesi University and University of Cape Coast to select students for internship.