CEO OF STANDARD CHARTERED BANK ON THE HARD TRUTH

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• published: 13 Nov 2015
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A partnership between the Banking industry in Ghana and the Telecommunication Companies is the future of increased bank penetration since the current unbanked population of Ghana is about 70 per cent, the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank, Mr Kweku Bedu-Addo, has stated. “I think the Banks and the Telcos collaborating is the future because in the future technology will play a major part in whatever we do. So it’s in our mutual interest to corporate with each other because today the Telcos have the reach even to the unbanked. People may not have a bank account but may have phones and if technology makes it possible to convert money into byte and move it around on a phone we have to embrace it”, he said Mr. Bedu-Addo who made this revelation in an interview on THE HARD TRUTH, a current affairs television programme averred the collaboration would help the banks make quantum leaps that earlier generations could not make by way of financial inclusion and financial literacy. He added that when this dream is achieved it will help relegate the idea of people not being banked to the background since most of the people who do not bank are either not financial literate, do not generate any income or due to cultural factors. Speaking on the same television show, he debunked the notion that Standard Chartered Bank has stopped lending to businesses saying that, the bank is only being careful since the macro environment is not favorable and would want people who can pay back monies lent them. He added that businesses must get to understand finance a bit better and what is called finance structure in order to use equity better than going to the banks which is more of shorter term. “Standard Chartered is only being careful with depositors and shareholders monies but we have not stopped lending. I can see the evolution of equity business in Ghana and increasingly we are seeing venture capital companies come in as well as private equity players who have shown interest in Africa not just Ghana so it would be better for businesses to engage in these than go to bank because bank capital is not often long term”, Bedu-Addo opined. He therefore advised businesses to know how they run their businesses, have ways of generating sufficient cash flow and have security before going for bank capital.