Government to redeploy NIB as industrial bank

Accra, Aug 18, GNA - The National Investment Bank (NIB) would be redirected to its original mandate of stimulating industrial development for faster national economic growth in accordance with government's ambitious industrialisation agenda, says Trade and Industry Minister Alan Kyeremanten.

The NIB was established primarily to promote and strengthen rapid industrialisation in all sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

Mr Kyeremanten said on Friday that NIB was originally established to fuel industrial growth and the government would redeploy it to go back to play its original role.

He was speaking during the inauguration of an eight-member governing board of the National Board for Small Scale Industries with Mr Ato Panford as chairman and supported by Ms Kosi Antwiwa Yankey, Ms Ama Gyamfuah Abrefa, Mr Yakubu Yussif, Mr George Mireku Duker, Nana Sammy Osei-Bonsu, Mr Seth Twum-Akwaboah and Mr Michael Darko, as members.

The Trade Minister said government would establish a $2 billion industrial development fund to support the private sector for which he said a number of sectors have already been identified.

He told the Board members that government has outlined an ambitious 10-point industrial transformation agenda with its top priority being job creation, and urged SMEs to take advantage of the opportunity to let Ghanaians appreciate government vision for the nation.

He said the ruling government believed job creation could be done in all sectors of the economy that was why it intended to mainstream job creation in the sectors.

The Board Chairman, Mr Pandford, assured the Minister of members commitment to work as a team and hold fast to the task given them.

'We will be mentoring the SMEs in order to grow them to produce results,' he said.

GNA

By D.I. Laary, GNA