Societe Generale Ghana Head Office commissioned

As part of efforts to consolidate its operations and increase its efficiency, Société Générale (SG), a French multinational banking and financial company on Monday commissioned its new Head Office in Accra.

The new ultra-modern Head Office Building would provide customers and the public easy access to the Bank, and would improve on its image, thereby making it a more attractive destination for customers.

SG Ghana was incorporated as SSB in 1975, and listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange in 1995. So far the Bank had 37 branches nationwide.

President John Dramani Mahama in a speech read on his behalf during the commissioning by Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister for Trade and Industry, acknowledged the Bank’s contributions to Ghana’s socio-economic development over the years, and expressed his high expectation for SG Ghana in the coming years.

He said the Bank had so far supported Ghana’s development with over €500 billion in many areas of the economy, such as mining, energy, finance and agriculture.

He urged boards and managements of financial institutions to take the issue of risk management very seriously so that it is not used to deprive clients of opportunities to access loans for their business growth.

President Mahama said the new Head Office edifice of the bank would go a long way to improve customer relations and service delivery at the Bank. He assured investors that the Bank of Ghana’s recent directive that local transactions should be carried out in Ghana Cedis was not meant to stifle their businesses, but rather to bring sanity into the banking and financial industry.

He said repatriation of their profit was assured, adding that genuine transactions could be done in dollars in line with the Bank of Ghana’s directive.

He disclosed that the new Head Office edifice was constructed by a local contractor; using local materials, and urged other companies to emulate the bank’s example. The Deputy French Ambassador to Ghana Ms Cecile Vigneau, said Ghana represents a model of political and democratic stability in Africa, stating that Ghana is high level partner of France.

Dr Henry A. K. Kofi Wampah, Governor of the Bank of Ghana in a speech read on his behalf by his Deputy, Dr Abdul Naseru Isahaku, said SG Ghana ‘s achievements in the Ghanaian banking industry had been tremendous and had made it a reference point in the banking industry.

He said the SG Ghana had an effective risk management system and internal control system, declaring that this had translated into the Bank having one of the lowest none performing loans and net cost of risk in industry.

Mr Jean Luc Parer, Head SG International Banking for Retail and Financial Services said: “This magnificent edifice represents an in investment of million that is evidence that the SG Group is committed to playing its role in assisting with economic development of the country”.

Mr Kofi Ampim, SG Ghana Board Chairman said: “Our Investment in Ghana is a way of telling potential investors that Ghana is good news, business is good in Ghana, come to Ghana and be part of this dynamic safe investment regime”.

Mr Gilbert Hie, Managing Director of SG Ghana said as Bank, SG Ghana had always believed that the greatest strength of a team lies not just in the ability of its individuals but also in the ability to work together as a team and to support each other.

The function was attended by gurus from the banking and finance industry and the public.