Alhaji Adams said that would create jobs for the people to reduce poverty and increase the quality of livelihoods of the people as well as increase the returns on the facilities granted to the industries and businesses which would boost the profits of the RCBs.

He said the RCBs had become an integral part of the banking sector in the region, as it had been able to reach out to over 3,000 customers and over 100,000 businesses.

He said the need to empower such customers was paramount since majority of them were into agribusiness.Alhaji Adams who was speaking at the launch of the third annual banking week celebrations of the ARBs at Zebilla in the Upper East Region on the theme: Rural Banking- Key to National Industrialisation explained that since many of their customers were farmers, investing in such businesses would yield profit for both the customers and the banks.

He commended the RCBs in the region for their outstanding performance at the second quarter report by the ARB-APEX where the Toende rural bank in Zebilla came 9th, Bongo rural bank 14th, Naara 34th rural bank, Builsa Community Bank 49th and BESSFA rural bank 69th positions nationally.

Alhaji Adams urged the banks to work hard to meet the mandatory minimum state share capital of GH¢1,000,000. 00 by December, 2017 to avoid any sanctions from the central bank. Mr Kojo Mattah, the Managing Director of the ARB-APEX Bank limited, urged community members to contribute by investing in the various community banks in their locations to enable them grow.

 He said the ARB-APEX Bank would intensify its supervisory role to ensure that the RCBs continue to give quality banking services to its customers. Rural banking was established in 1976 to provide banking services to the rural communities as well as support developmental projects and provide credit to small scale farmers and businesses.

 The ARB-APEX bank was later established as a supervisory bank to cater for the clearing and other needs of the RCBs.