President of Groupe Nduom, Dr Nana Kwaku Nduom, has opened up about the journey and struggles of GN Bank, recounting how regulatory changes and financial pressures reshaped the institution’s trajectory.

Speaking on the backstory in an exclusive interview on Channel One TV’s Point of View show on May 25, 2026, Dr Nduom explained that after receiving a banking license in 2014, GN Bank expanded rapidly, operating close to 300 branches nationwide.

However, by 2016–17, challenges began to surface, culminating in 2019 when the situation reached a breaking point.

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“There were some grumblings and after about a year, you know, 2016–17, then some of the challenges started to pop up, and then, 2019 is where everything came to a head. The branches were about 298. It was right around 300. There was another branch we had to launch,” he disclosed.

He noted that the Bank of Ghana’s decision in 2017 to raise the minimum capital requirement triggered a race among financial institutions to meet the new threshold by December 31, 2018.

“…the requirement was put out there, I believe in 2017, and there was this race to December 31st, 2018 to see who could raise the capital. And so many things happened during that time, including a lot of statements about who has made it and who hasn’t. And that sort of led to panic withdrawals and a whole bunch of other things that happened before December 31st,” he said.

Dr Nduom further revealed that GN Bank believed it had sufficient capitalisation, but disagreements with the regulator over the valuation of certain assets; particularly those tied to unpaid contractors, created contention.

As negotiations continued, the Bank of Ghana advised GN Bank to downgrade to a savings and loans company while outstanding issues were resolved.

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“So, one of the matters of contention were the assets that were connected to contractors who weren’t being paid and therefore were having some challenges paying. And so, while we were having that negotiation and going back and forth, the Bank of Ghana said, ‘hey, you know what, why don’t you downgrade or reclassify to a savings and loan while we sort this whole thing out? Because you at least have what’s needed for a savings and loan. So, let’s reclassify, let’s work all these other things out, and when they’re worked out, then we can…” he added.

Reflecting on the decision to accept a banking license in 2014, he admitted that the institution’s capitalisation would have been adequate for savings and loans throughout the period.

“You could look at it that way, but there are a lot of advantages to being a proper bank. We were able to provide a lot of services to our customers,” he said.

VKB/VPO

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