The management of Groupe Nduom has formally appealed to John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress, requesting the restoration of GN Bank’s license should he win the upcoming December 7 elections
GN Bank had its license revoked by the Bank of Ghana in August 2019 under the rule of the Akufo-Addo led NPP government.
During a meeting with the former president in Accra on Friday, July 19, Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom, the Global President of Groupe Nduom, expressed his woes regarding the ill-state of his banks (300) nationwide. “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 license back and we’ll bring the jobs back. Because it is the jobs that we are also looking for.” Ndoum explained.
“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.
Mahama also criticized the decision of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to revoke the licenses of some Indigenous financial institutions as part of the 2019 banking sector cleanup, labeling it as a hasty action.
He also shared plans of his administration to initiate an independent review of the banking sector cleanup process. “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.
As a move taken by the government, the flagbearer of the major opposition opposed it strongly, explaining that the banks were only able to fund government projects due to their active operation. “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 not a one-size-fits-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.” Mr. Mahama noted.
