The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has urged banks in the country to support small and medium enterprises to expand and grow their businesses.

He said this was the only way the country could solve the growing unemployment challenge.

During a courtesy call by the Managing Director of FBNBank and his team, he said when businesses grow, there would be a corresponding growth in employment opportunities.

He said banks have a major role to play in engendering the growth of businesses particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Confidence in FBNBank team

The Asantehene said he was confident that the Managing Director of the bank and his team will bring success to the bank.

He therefore encouraged all staff of the bank to support the team in achieving the goals of the Bank.

He advised the banks to come up with innovative ways to engender trust among the populace in order to attract companies and individuals who have shied away from using the services of banks as a result of the situation which led to the recent financial sector clean-up.

Leading socio economic agenda

In his response, the Managing Director of the Bank, Mr Victor Yaw Asante thanked the Asantehene for his advice and congratulated him for leading the socio-economic development initiatives in Asanteman and Ghana as a whole.

He also congratulated Otumfuo Osei Tutu II on the occasion of his 71st birthday anniversary and wished him God’s blessings and a successful reign.

“We consider the Ashanti Region as a critical market for our activities as a Bank and we are keen to maintain a high level of stakeholder interaction and relationship building in that region. A few weeks ago, we engaged our customers in the same region and listened to their issues with the aim of delivering better support to their business activities. Today, we have engaged the Asantehene and we appreciate every bit of our interaction with His Majesty particularly his advice.

“For us at FBNBank this is what we mean when we say we put you first. Our brand promise enjoins us to place our stakeholders first and at the heart of what we do. That is what we have achieved with this visit,” he stated.

The FBNBank Ghana MD was accompanied on the visit by the Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer, Semiu Lamidi, Group Head, Business Development, Azubike Obi, Treasurer, Mrs. Grace Isaac-Aryee, Country Team Lead, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Enoch Vanderpuye,

Head, Public Sector, Hayford Danso, Area Head, Northern Ghana, Philip Afari and Manager, Suame Branch, Charity Kissi.