General News of Thursday, 18 October 2018
Source: todaygh.com
2018-10-18
President and Chairman, Group Nduom – Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom
President and Chairman of Group Nduom (GN), Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, says it is not true, rumours making rounds that he used depositors’ monies with GN Bank Ghana to open a new bank in the United States of America (USA, thereby affecting the operations of the bank in Ghana, hence the recent panic withdrawals being experienced by the bank.
According to him, “there is no relationship between GN Bank, Ghana and GN Bank Chicago, USA, and any of the GN conglomerates spread across the globe.”
“We cannot transfer any money from Ghana to any of our companies in America neither can we transfer money from our companies in America to any of our companies in Africa. We cannot also deposit monies in any of our businesses in America from Africa,” he clarified.
According to the business magnate, the American system does not operate in that way, and therefore, called on people peddling such falsehood to stop.
Dr Nduom made these observations yesterday on Amansan Television (ATV) in Accra while discussing the implications of the recent panic withdrawals, which have hit many indigenous banks in the country including GN Bank.
He noted that his recent “stop the panic withdrawal” tour gave him glimpses of hope and assurance.
“GN Bank has over 1.2 million retail clients and if 300,000 of them decide to withdraw at least GH¢100 each it means that over Gh¢300 million has been withdrawn all over the country and can affect the operations of the bank,” he said.
“GN bank is not collapsing rather people who are doing panic withdrawal are those who want to collapse it. I am therefore urging those who, out of panic withdrawing their money from the bank to return them to ensure the smooth running of the bank,” he said.
To this end, the celebrated business man assured customers of the bank that management was consulting with their partners outside Ghana, and was hopeful that by the end of October this year they would support the bank with over Gh¢ 20million to enable them support customers in their businesses.
Explaining modalities for establishing a bank in Ghana, Dr Nduoms said that, “the moment Bank of Ghana (BoG) grants license to any bank to operate, customers monies are always safe,” adding that, “even if it happens that the BoG liquidates such a bank your money is still safe. In Ghana, Bank of Ghana and the government ensure that customers who deposit their money at a licensed bank is always safe.”
He promised that GN Bank would continue to work with clients who will remain loyal to them until it recovers fully.
GN Bank, he recounted, began with just one branch but now has over 300 branches.
“So even if it happens that we will close down all the branches and concentrate on just a branch, we‘ll do so until we re-establish all the 300 branches,” he said.
Dr Nduom also denied investing in Menzgold as it was being alleged by a- section of the Ghanaian populace.
According to him, “Groupe Nduom has an investment company called Gold Coast that supports businesses, especially contractors, and has been doing so for the past 25 years.”
“What I can assure Ghanaians is that GN Bank is not collapsing and will not collapse. It is rather the recent mass withdrawal that s causing the panic. We are pleading with customers to allow their monies remain at the bank to enable us do business with it. So bring back the money you have withdrawn from the bank as a result of panic withdrawal. Let’s encourage our indigenous banks to continue to remain in business,” he said.