The Chief Executive Officer of IFS Financial Services Limited, Mr Kojo Ohene-kyei, said that finance houses played a key role in the financial structure of the country and are the first port of call in project financing.

However, he said a good number of them have poor performing accounts which were caused by the lack of good project management finance principles, which required the building of knowledgeable, competent and confident people who can meet these needs for the mutual benefits of clients and organisations. 

Mr Ohene-Kyei made the call at the opening of a two-day seminar on ‘Project Finance and Management’ in Accra on March 29, 2017. It was organised by the Association of Finance Houses, (AFH) Ghana AFH. 

Poor performing accounts 

He cited the culture of emergency finance popularly known as ‘a loan in 48 hours’ and emergency certificate as some of the underlying causes of poor performing accounts. 

“Our speed of delivery is perhaps our most important competitive advantage but that should not be done at the expense of quality. Not all loans can be done that way as they may need a lot of analysis,” Mr Ohene-kyei said. 

He said these have some kind of negative impact on how to receive, evaluate and deliver project management proposals. 

Mr Ohene-kyei urged participants at the seminar to determine to apply the knowledge acquired for the mutual benefit of their organisations and clients. 

“Let me remind you that you are a permanent beneficiary of what you are getting from this seminar. Your employer is only a temporary beneficiary. Its life learning for you and so if you apply it well, it’s a life time benefit,” he said. 

The AFH

It is a professional association set up to advance the business interests of its members, institute sound and ethical corporate governance practices, maintain a standard conduct for operations, ensure members’ compliance with statutory regulatory requirements and strengthen its increasing role in Ghana’s financing value chain.

The AFH comprises a group of licensed houses operating in Ghana with an objective to educate the employees and public on the products and services of the association.