'Banks suffering from strategic myopia'

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Shippers' Authority (GSA), Emmanuel Kofi Mbiah,  has challenged banks in the country to be innovative in the introduction of products and services.

He explained that the current situation where banks offered virtually the same solutions to the general public was a reflection of the "canker of strategic myopia," which has unfortunately crept into the banking industry.

Instead of devising cutting-edge solutions to meet the day- to-day challenges of their clients, he observed, most banks in the country virtually copied the products and service lines of their counterparts, a practice he said was not benefiting  the banks, their customers and the economy in general.

"I see some of the banks and sometimes, all I can say is that they suffer from a certain canker, a canker I call strategic myopia; they do not develop new strategies, others develop new strategies and they lay them on their backs but it is important for us to envisage and look forward and dig into the future because technology holds the key for the banking sector," Dr Mbiah, who was the guest of honour at this year's Ghana Banking Awards (GBA), said at the event in Accra on November 1.

This year's award, which was the 13th, was used to reward banks that have excelled in the 2013 operational year.

The annual event is organised by Corporate Initiative Ghana (CIG) and this year’s was in partnership with GRAPHIC BUSINESS, the weekly business and financial newspaper of the Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL). 

The event was on the theme 'Identifying and Rewarding Excellence in the Banking Proposition.'  

Access Bank Ghana Limited, took home the coveted Bank of the Year Award, in addition to three other awards.

Dr Mbiah added that the country's large unbanked population, cash-dependent economy and weak economic fundamentals required that captains of industry and banking executives in particular, introduce new methods and strategies that would help bridge those gaps.

"We must innovate and we must look at new things. We must be looking more at the banking industry for strategic leadership and with that I will like banks to provide direction, alignment and commitment because the banks have a very important role to play in the development of our economy," he said at the event, which attracted professionals and experts in the banking industry.

Table of winners:

Banks and Africa's growth potential 

With Africa's population projected to rise to one billion people in the next 10 years, Dr Mbiah suggested to banks in the country to start positioning themselves towards ripping from that growth.

Other award winners

In addition to winning the overall award, Access Bank was adjudged the Best Bank in Corporate Social Responsibility, the first and second runner-up in both Enterprise Finance and Household Finance respectively.

The bank's Director of Corporate Communications and Brand Communications, Mrs Matilda Asante-Asiedu, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS that Access Bank was grateful to its customers for the honours done it.

She said the awards were a reflection of the confidence customers had in the bank and pledged that it would spur the bank into doing more.

Mrs Asante-Asiedu dedicated the award to current and potential customers, whom she said, were the reason for the awards.

Other winners included Zenith Bank for Customer Care; Standard Chartered Bank won two awards for Trade Financing and Financial Performance; Bank of Baroda Ghana Limited for Competitive Pricing, GT Bank for Product Innovation and Royal Bank for the Best Growing Bank.

The rest were Societe General Ghana Limited for Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing; UT Bank for Most Active E-zwich Bank; Fidelity Bank for Household Finance, First Atlantic Bank for Enterprise Finance and Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) for Long Term Loan Finance. GB