By Robert Ayanful
Community banks have called on the Association of Rural Banks (ARB APEX), its mother institution, to plead with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to extend the deadline for meeting the minimum capital requirement.
The call follows a directive by the central bank for community banks to raise a minimum capital of 5 million Ghana cedis by the end of December 31, 2026.
Board Chairman for the Agona Community Bank PLC, Mr. Emmanuel Egyir, made the call during its 39th Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Agona Kwanyako in the Central Region.
According to him, the deadline set by the BoG is a major challenge for most community banks, as the bank he chairs had been able to raise 1 million Ghana cedis as of the time of the AGM and was making efforts at achieving the target.
Mr. Egyir, however, disclosed that the bank has made significant strides in its operations, with its total assets growing from 40,938,182 cedis in 2024 to 51,238,172 in 2025, representing an increase of 25.16 percent, while its deposits also grew from 36,681,654 cedis to 44,415,331 cedis under the same period, representing an increase of 21.08 percent.
The short-term investments of the bank grew from 16,104,969 cedis to 23,330,576 cedis, representing an increase of 44.87 percent, with profit after tax being 509,129 as against 301,743 cedis in the previous year.
The Board Chairman further hinted that the bank’s total loans and advances grew from 17,356,752 cedis to 18,894,234 cedis under the same period, an increase of 8.86 percent, with the minimum capital requirement as set by the BoG reaching 1,033,203 as of December 31, 2025.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Agona Community Bank PLC, Mr. Philip Lovemore Amedofu, appealed to shareholders to purchase more shares to increase the financial base of the bank to ensure it meets the BoG’s minimum capital requirement to avoid a merger with another bank.
The capital requirement, set by the central bank, is in line with the ongoing microfinance sector reforms in which community banks are required to raise a minimum capital of 5 million Ghana cedis to stand alone and operate or risk being merged with others. Enditem
Source: Ghana Eye Report
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