Ghanaian Banks failed to shine- As Zenith Bank wins Best Bank for 2008, 4 other awards

The Zenith Bank Ghana Limited, one of leading universal banks in Ghana, was on Saturday night crowned Ghana's Best Bank for 2008.

In addition to this, the bank, which is a Nigerian bank operating in Ghana, was also adjudged the Best Bank in Financial Performance, 1st runner up in Growing Bank, 1st runner up in Short Term Loan Financing and 2nd runner up in Retail Banking, at the 8th Ghana Banking Awards held in Accra.

The night saw Cal Bank picking seven awards. These were Best Bank in Medium Term Loan Financing, Best Bank in Product Innovation, Best Bank in Retail Banking, 1st runner up in ICT and Electronic Banking, 2nd runner up in Corporate Banking, 2nd runner up in Long Term Loan Financing, and 2nd runner up in Advisory Services.

The First Atlantic Merchant Bank took home five awards in the categories. They were Best Bank in Trade Finance, Best Bank in Corporate Banking, 1st runner up in Advisory Services, 1st runner up in Long Term Loan Financing and 2nd runner up in Customer Care.

Merchant Bank Ghana Limited put up a remarkable performance to enable it pick up four important awards, namely, Best Bank in Short Term Loan Financing, 1st runner up in Retail Banking, 2nd runner up in Competitive Pricing and 2nd runner up in ICT and Electronic Banking.

The impressive ceremony was full of surprises, as most of the Ghanaian-owned banks, especially, Ghana Commercial Bank, Agricultural Development Bank, Prudential Bank, Unibank Ghana Limited and The Trust Bank, could not find their feet.

The Ghana Commercial Bank picked two awards - Best Bank in Competitive Pricing and 2nd runner up in Trade Finance, while the Agricultural Development Bank also picked two awards - 1st runner up in Competitive Pricing and 2nd runner up in Financial Performance.

The Prudential Bank Ghana Limited took two awards, 1st runner up in Trade Finance and 1st runner up in Medium Term Loan Financing, while The Trust Bank, which was the best bank for 2007, gained two awards for being the best bank in Long Term Loan Financing and 1st runner up in Corporate Financing.

The Unibank received two awards namely, 1st runner up Customer Care and 1st runner up in Product Innovation. While United Bank for Africa (UBA) picked the Best Bank in Customer Care and 2nd runner up in Product Innovation.

The Amalgamated Bank also picked two awards in the categories of Best Bank in ICT and Electronic Banking and 2nd runner up in Growing Bank.

The HFC Bank, Ecobank, Intercontinental Bank, International Commercial Bank, Fidelity Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, failed to shine as they picked an award each.

The impressive night saw a heavy attendance by industry bigwigs, including the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Paul Acquah, who was the Special Guest and Keynote Speaker.

Addressing the teeming bankers, Dr. Acquah announced that the size of the balance sheet of the banking system in Ghana had expanded by 37.2% to 52.5% of GDP in 2008 as against 37.3% of GDP in 2003. While, the total deposits of the banks have risen to 34.2% of GDP from 23.4% of GDP in 2003.

He further disclosed that the total branch network of banks in Ghana stood at 642 in 2008, as compared with 332 in 2003.