… MD drags feet as bank loses customers daily
There is uncertainty surrounding the reopening of the Dansoman branch of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) as Managing Director (MD), Edward Ato Sarpong and his management team seem undecided on the relocation from the fire-ravaged premises to a new place approved by Bank of Ghana (BoG).
While they were comfortably paying rent for an empty office at East Legon, the Ato Sarpong-led management has demonstrated no keenness about relocating and reopening the profit-making Dansoman branch to a safer place approved by BoG since February 2025.
Documents seen by Newsghana showed that the central bank had in February 2025, granted approval for ADB to relocate both the Dansoman and the Walewale branches to new premises.
For the Dansoman branch, the regulator specifically granted the approval for relocation from property Number A331/18, on 3rd Road, to property Number 8, Atta Adoko Road, Dansoman.
The approval followed a request by the management of ADB for relocation following the inferno, which had rendered the previous premises unsuitable for the bank’s operations.
However, since assuming office in February, the current MD has failed to execute the relocation plan for the Dansoman branch despite the preapproval granted by the central bank.
Ten clear months after BOG’s approval, ADB is yet to renovate the property at Number 8, Atta Adoko Road to resume branch operations at Dansoman.
Against the approval of the central bank to relocate, the bank’s management is alleged to have signed a new tenancy agreement with the landlord at Number A331/18, 3rd Road in Dansoman, which had been ravaged by fire, and rendered unsuitable for banking operations.
Concerns have been raised by both customers in Dansoman and its environs and some concerned employees at the branch, who told this portal that at the time of the fire incident, the Dansoman branch was one of ADB’s profitable branches.
Sources at Bank of Ghana have revealed that the banking supervision department has since February been waiting for ADB to inform them when the proposed new premises is ready for statutory inspection to give the final green light for the reopening of the Dansoman branch.
In such a competitive industry, a bank with capital adequacy challenges cannot afford to lose its market share in a sprawling conurbation like Dansoman. Each passing day, the bank is sure to lose customers to competitors, said an analyst.
