The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has stepped-up its efforts and commitment to the asset and leasing industry.
This is to provide the bank with better leverage in agriculture equipment financing and also help clients who require specific financing for the acquisition of key assets for business growth and expansion.
The commitment of ADB in this sector has thus resulted in close to GH¢100million leases written at the end of the year 2011. This was distributed among agriculture, haulage/transportation, construction, gas and oil, among other sectors as well as retail customers.
In addition to the GH¢100million leases, ADB has forged a strong partnership with relevant MMDAs in financing the acquisition of primary agricultural equipment to strengthen the national goal of transforming the mode of agriculture into a mechanised one.
The commitment of ADB is supported through the unit’s development of requisite structures for all credit requests from the bank and relating to movable assets to be transacted under Asset finance arrangements.
ADB commenced Asset Finance operations in April 2010 as a new business Unit in the Corporate Banking Department of the Bank under its three-year strategic agenda.
The commencement of Asset Finance was aimed at strengthening the capacity and competitiveness of the bank within an increasingly competitive industry, and also to provide the bank with better leverage in agriculture equipment financing.
The Unit’s formation has created a bank-wide awareness of the lease financing option of capital assets, and has offered competence and the desired comfort to create and manage asset-based transactions.
The creation of the unit has thus attracted many customers with such needs to the bank, as well as customers’ awareness relating to tax benefits associated with lease transactions.
One of the unique retail products the leasing unit has designed that is accessible to the bank’s customers and potential clients is the Gold Drive Plus, an Auto Lease product offering individuals an opportunity to own any brand-new vehicle of their choice, and Fleet Finance, designed to assist corporate organisations to enhance their fleet for operational or commercial purposes.
Other retail, finance and agricultural products available to customers also include fleet financing, equipment finance, big-ticket lease, sale and lease-back, agri-lease, agri-service provider lease among others.
Through these efforts, ADB is contributing its quota to the growth of the Ghana’s GDP, since it is widely acknowledged by financial experts that the GDP of a country responds to an 8-9 percentage growth in leasing activities by an average growth of 1%.
The role of asset finance or leasing in the development of the private sector is very important as it is a means for individuals and institutions to acquire critical equipment for personal or corporate use.
Asset Finance offers a unique opportunity for beneficiaries to acquire the necessary equipment and schedule repayment over the economic useful life of the equipment acquired.
This flexibility in the repayment of assets allows beneficiaries to generate the necessary cash with which to pay for the equipment.
