The Managing Director of Societe Generale (SG) Ghana, has cautioned his colleagues not to go to sleep after successfully meeting the Bank of Ghana’s minimum capital requirement.
According to Hakim Ouzzani, the increase in the stated capital which formed part of the banking sector cleanup is an indication of challenging times for banks.
Mr Ouzzani told JoyBusiness his outfit is doing more to sustain its operations in the country.
“The first thing is that now that there is increased stated capital, our participation in business will be more important,” he said.
The SG Ghana boss added, “So we will continue to develop our different segments of customers or individuals; we’ll continue to improve our operations and we’ll continue to innovate.” Mr Ouzzani spoke to JoyBusiness at a cocktail event organized by his outfit to mark the successful completion of meeting the requirement.
Recapitalization history
Work on recapitalization commenced in 2017 when SG Ghana received its regulators’ Notice which stated that the Central Bank had revised the minimum capital requirement for all banks and that this had been set at a minimum of GH¢400 million. The Board of Directors, Management and Shareholders of the bank together with the Sponsoring Broker, Financial and Legal Experts worked assiduously to comply with Bank of Ghana’s Directive in record time.
Societe Generale Ghana has increased its stated capital to more than GH¢404 million via a Bonus Issue of GH¢97 million and a Rights Issue of almost GH¢170 million, thus meeting the Bank of Ghana’s Directive issued in September 2017 in excess of 4 million cedis.
Deputy Managing Director of the bank, Ernest Kuetche said the bank is working hard to increase its market share to 7.5% in a short term.
The event also featured the recognition and appreciation of some hardworking staff of SG Ghana.