According to Ecobank Ghana’s managing director, Mr Daniel Sackey, the bank will generate GHC2 billion in total revenue by the end of the 2021 fiscal year, a 10% increase, and GHC894 million in profit before taxes, a 14% increase.
After the 2021 Annual General Meeting, Mr Sackey addressed the media and stated that the boost in overall revenue was primarily caused by a 13% increase in Net Interest Income to GHS 1.5 billion and a 24% increase in net fees and Commissions to GHS 317.6 million.
“This was achieved through increased volumes of earning Assets, which was funded by our rather strong deposit growth of 12% to GHS13.2 billion, which was the industry’s highest for 2021.”
“We closed the year 2021 with the largest loan book, which grew by 14% to GHS5.7billion”, he announced.
He added that Ecobank keeps up a strong risk management posture to make sure the bank is working to maintain and enhance its asset quality metrics.
He revealed that the bank was still in excellent shape, with Total Assets increasing by 12% to GHS17.93 billion and Owners’ Equity increasing by 10% to GHS2.7 billion in 2021.
In order to improve the user experience for its Consumer and Commercial Banking customers, Mr Dan Sackey highlighted that the Ecobank, as part of its investment in technology, made significant enhancements to two of its key platforms, Ecobank Online and Omnilite in 2021.
“We have also upgraded and repositioned our Contact Centre into a multilingual and multicultural customer engagement centre that responds to and serves our customers around the clock 7 days a week”, he mentioned.
In contrast to a 7% growth in-branch transactions in 2021, he continued, the combined effect of the aforementioned initiatives has led to a 36% increase in digital transactions.
Regarding customer relationships, Mr Sackey stated that Ecobank would prioritize customer-centricity in 2021 as one of its new six corporate values, which also include respect, accountability, excellence, integrity, and teamwork.
He stated that “our staff is constantly being sensitized to see everything we do from the point of view of our Customers, recognize them, and tailor all our offerings to meet their needs, take responsibility, resolve customer issues at first contact, keeps our customers informed, and be readily available to them.”
Mr Dan Sackey reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to helping its clients get through this challenging time while acknowledging the steps the government is taking to address the rising inflationary pressures and their negative effects on the macroeconomic environment.
“While we are optimistic of a recovery in the medium-to-long term, in the near term we are committed to working with our clients to support them to navigate this difficult period. We will continue to work to deepen our relationships with our customers and provide them with the needed support to grow their businesses”, he assured.
Although the bank’s performance for the first quarter of 2022 was encouraging and the growth trend is anticipated to remain positive, the managing director of Ecobank Ghana stated that they are aware of the challenges caused by the current inflationary pressures and supply chain disruptions.