Accra, Jan. 31, GNA – Government has appointed a seven-member Board of Directors to oversee the affairs and operations of the Development Bank of Ghana (DBG).
The appointment process was through an open and competitive selection process coordinated by PwC (Ghana).
The members of the Board of Directors are Dr Yaw Ansu, Mr Stephan Leudesdorff, Mr Charles Boamah, Ms Rosemary Yeboah, Ms Mary Boakye, Mr Yaw Nsarkoh, and Ms Nora Bannerman-Abbott.
Among other responsibilities, the Board has been tasked to rapidly establish its international pedigree and to scale up its resource envelop to drive the country’s economic transformation agenda in line with the Ghana Beyond Aid.
The Ministry of Finance, in a statement, said the members were selected for their relevant qualification, diversity of experience and skills as well as integrity.
Dr Yaw Ansu, a respected Economist with over 36 years of professional experience spanning several countries, was elected as Chairman at the inaugural meeting of the Board on December 1, 2021.
“For 26 years, 1984 to 2010, Dr Ansu worked at the World Bank, holding various technical and managerial positions, including Country Director for Zambia, Zimbabwe and Nigeria, Sector Director for Human Development in Africa and Network Director and Chairman of the Sector Board for the Economists Network at the World Bank, Headquarters in Washington DC,” the Finance Ministry said.
He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), MS in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University, and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics from Cornell University, in the United States of America.
The Board’s appointment was in line with the relevant sections of the Development Finance Institutions Act 2020 (Act 1032, 2020) – a provision under which the Bank is regulated by the Bank of Ghana.
The African Development Bank would have a seat on the Board while the World Bank and KfW would each have Observer status on the Board.
The Government has, over the past four years, worked with key Development Partners such as the Department for International Development (DFID), KfW, World Bank, European Investment Bank (EIB) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) in designing and establishing DBG to help address the gaps in the Ghanaian credit markets, especially the availability of medium and long-term finance for the private sector.
DBG would facilitate business growth and job creation and accelerate economic transformation by supporting the financial sector through Participating Financial Institutions (PFI’s) in both the banking and capital market industries.
The primary focus areas of DBG are agribusiness (especially, off-farm value-chain activities), manufacturing, ICT and allied services, tourism, among others, and is expected to propel economic growth, create jobs and improve domestic revenue mobilisation.
The Ministry said DBG had become a key institution to promote private sector-led growth under the Ghana CARES Obaatanpa programme – an essential element for Ghana’s economic transformation post-covid.
DBG, it further stated had commenced operations with an initial total funding of over US$750 million from Government and notable Development Finance Institutions (DFI’s).
The Government expects the Bank to use its strong financial position to support the growth of the private sector companies, create high quality jobs and enable Ghana’s private sector to compete more favorable within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework.
