The Royal Bank pushes operations to deprived communities

Financial service provision in places outside of Ghana’s big cities has been upheld by mostly rural banks and microfinance institutions.

But majority of the population still remain unbanked, prompting the need for deeper penetration into local communities with financial inclusion.

The Royal Bank, a wholly owned Ghanaian universal banking entity, is pushing its operations to offer services to deprived communities.

Head of Financial Control and Strategy, David Okyere Nyarko, tells Luv Biz training and financing for local businesses is among priority areas of the bank.

‘We are not just looking at areas which are very densely populated but we are going into communities outside the main business districts where the people don’t have banking facilities to provide these services to them,’ he stated.

According to Mr. Okyere Nyarko, the focus is to spread employment opportunities to such areas and extend other support services to the local communities.

Within a year of operations, The Royal Bank has established 12 branches with a target of an additional 25 by end of year. The bank chalked a Gh₵13.1 profit in its first 16 months of operations.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh