The new focus is part of a broader transformation programme aimed at deepening its hold on industries as its flagship initiative.

Its Managing Director, Mr Samuel Sarpong, said the transformation programme would also see the bank become a world-class financial institution supporting economic growth through strategic investments and job creation.

Mr Sarpong said in a statement copied to the Daily Graphic that in line with the agenda, significant progress had been made both in human resource training and systems upgrade to help achieve this target state.

Board

He said to consolidate the gains made from the implementation of the strategy, a reconstituted Board of Directors, chaired by Mr Kofi Owusu Sekyere, had been inducted with the mandate to achieve the bank’s new strategy.

He said it was critical now than ever to ensure that the bank was run efficiently and the board and management were working with the staff to achieve that.

To that end, the MD said management had, in consultation with the government, which was the majority shareholder, the Board of Directors, and the local union, approved a voluntary exit programme where employees were given the opportunity to voluntarily exit the bank.

This exercise, which begun a few months ago has been successfully implemented as an initial step in optimising staff numbers, " he said

Head office relocation

"Another key initiative was the relocation of the head office from the crowded Accra Central Business District to the Airport City enclave. This move, coupled with ongoing improvements in operations, have made a positive impact on the bank’s corporate and brand image as customers and prospective investors have unimpeded access to the head office to transact business," he said.

Original objective

NIB was originally established to provide financial, advisory and technical support to industry for the growth and development of the country.

That objective was, however, diluted over time given that access to long-term capital for on-lending to manufacturing firms in the country became difficult, hence, its venture into universal banking.

Mr Sarpong said: “the transformation of the bank is not a mere rhetoric or aesthetic but a real step towards the total restructuring of the bank. As the transformation programme progresses, Ghanaians will experience nothing less than a proud local bank supporting industries,” he said.

He added that corporate governance at the bank had been immensely improved with the balance sheet management also being enhanced.

The MD said the information and technology infrastructure of the bank as well as security around its operations had been enormously boosted.

"Again, the bank’s product and service offerings are being revamped, and the risk and compliance framework among others have all been improved greatly," he assured.

Development bank

Mr Sarpong emphasised that NIB was not going to be run poorly again, stating that the phenomenon where the bank had to fall on shareholders for capital injection due to losses would be a thing of the past after this transformation exercise.

Following the recent establishment of the Development Bank Ghana (DBG) by government, long-term capital would be available to the likes of NIB for long-term lending to the manufacturing sector.

Mr Sarpong said when attained and sustained, the initiative would help Ghana industrialise and create more jobs for the teeming youth of the country.