Minister denies Crown Prince Interest in GCB

Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo has denied knowledge that the Saudi Crown Prince is taking up government's 58.3 per cent in the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB.

He said government is not dealing with individuals in the GCB divestiture process, adding that, it is possible that Sheikh Al Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud had interest in GCB, but admitted that a certain bank or company could be expressing that interest on his behalf.

Mr Osafo-Maafo was speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) Business Desk during the break at a seminar on the Draft Banking and Payments Systems Bills at Swedru.

He said the government could not stop a particular person represented by a qualified company from participating in the bid for the majority shares in GCB. The Bills are currently before Parliament for consideration and passage

The Crown Prince was in the country recently on a business trip.

He said government welcomed the intense interest in the debate on the divestiture of government shares in GCB, but noted; " the discussion must be from an informed position of requisite knowledge instead of the current situation where people make statement without recourse to laid down processes and practices."

He expressed regret that people who should know better were making very erroneous comments on the subject and pleaded with them not to muddy the already murky water that GCB found itself in.

Mr Osafo-Maafo said he did not find anything wrong with government's decision to sell the shares, which he explained was made by the previous administration, adding; "the entire process had reached an advanced stage before we came into power. We then decided to go ahead with the deal with a few modifications".

Mr Osafo-Maafo said GCB needed more than 15 million dollars to be the efficient bank that government wanted it to be, notwithstanding, what the Management of the Bank thought.

The Management of GCB recently said given the right atmosphere, support and working conditions, "local hands in the form of Ghanaian managers can work to transform the bank to a profitable status".

President John Agyekum Kufuor at the 50th anniversary of GCB on May 20 said GCB needed 15 million dollars to automate its operations and that any investor interested in taking up the Bank would not be allowed to close any of the 135 branches scattered throughout the country.

Mr Osafo-Maafo said the proposal was that the strategic investor would transform it into an urban and rural financing Bank that would take care of all its needs.

"This would ensure that branches in rural areas would not be closed down when the strategic investor takes over, adding; "this cannot be flouted since it would attract sanctions from the Bank of Ghana, the chief regulator in the country."

He said GCB branches in the rural areas provided services and would not be closed down on the mere premise of profit. Some of the 135 branches are in very remote areas where financial analysts call, "virtual non profit zones."