The National Democratic Congress flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama, has been petitioned by Groupe Nduom management to reinstate GN Bank’s license in the event that he wins the December 7 elections.
In August 2019, the Bank of Ghana revoked GN Bank’s license.
On Friday, July 19, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, Global President of Groupe Nduom, voiced concerns about the declining condition of 300 of the bank’s locations nationwide during a meeting with the outgoing president in Accra.
“We believe that if this administration doesn’t give us our license before they leave and start paying the money before they leave, we believe that the next one, will understand the situation and give the licence back. So we are continuing with the hope and preparing and working our plans with the hope that, at some point, we will get the licence back and we’ll bring the jobs back. Because it is the jobs, that we are also looking for.”
“So we feel that collapsing a 300-branch financial entity is inimical to the economic interest of the country. So whether it even belongs to us or belongs to someone else, it is something that needs to be there,” he stated.
As part of the 2019 banking sector cleanup, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government decided to revoke the licenses of some Indigenous financial institutions. The flagbearer of the NDC criticized this decision, calling it a hasty move.
He went on to say that the cleanup efforts in the banking sector will be subject to an independent review by his administration.
“I do think that government was hasty in what it did. If you look at the criteria that was used, I mean, it didn’t fit. It was, it was not a one-size-fits-all-all. I mean, it was just like different rules for different, folks and so, yes, as you said, a lot of these banks had also financed government suppliers and contractors and the government owed them and they owed the banks.
“But how would they recover that money if you don’t pay the contractors to pay them? And so I do think that it was hasty, and it’s affected indigenous capital in the financial and banking sector. And we have pledged that we would work to restore, you know, the capital of indigenous businesses in the financial sector.
“So we are advocating an independent review of the processes that went into the banking sector clean up and where we believe these were unjustifiable, look at the restoration of the licenses of these banks,” he stated.