3 July 2008
The Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) yesterday, July 2, 2008, granted what it terms as provisional license to a new banking institution called the AccessBank Liberia Limited.
Also known as the Microfinance Bank, AccessBank will operate like a commercial bank but mainly focus its activities on giving out small loans and providing financial services to low-income people.
The bank will also provide short-and medium-scale loans to Liberian businesses, a statement issued yesterday quoted bank authorities as saying.
According to the CBL statement, the shareholders of the proposed AccessBank Liberia, the Microfinance Bank, include institutional investors such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, the African Development Bank (ADB) and the European Investment Bank.
The majority shareholder is AccessBank AG, which a joint stock is holding company located in Germany, the statement added.
Based on negotiations, the Central Bank held with the shareholders, it was agreed that AcessBank Liberia, the Microfinance Bank, will open with an initial paid-in-capital of US$6 million, consistent with the policy of the CBL to set the minimum, capital of banks operating in Liberia at US$6 million by the end of December 2008.
"It was agreed that the majority of the members of the Board of the proposed bank will be resident in Liberia, and there will be Liberian participation in equity stake in the bank in the future," the CBL said..
In signing the Provisional License, the statement quoted officials as saying that the Executive Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia, Dr. Mill J. Jones, welcomed the cooperative spirit of the shareholders. He said the AccessBank has brought the idea of establishing a bank focusing on small loans to the take off stage.
He said that the CBL had worked tirelessly on the project believing firmly that expanding poor people's access to banking services was critical to fighting poverty. and to growing the private sector from the bottom up. He emphasized that a viable and thriving microfinance industry will promote economic growth and creates employment.
For her part, Ms. Mary Clare Odong, Advisor and Project Manager for the proposed bank said "AccessBank Liberia, The Microfinance Bank, is an international development-oriented financial institution which aims to have an impact in Liberia.
We look forward to starting operations in Liberia and providing access to responsible banking services to the microfinance sector in Liberia. After so many years of civil war an economic breakdown, Liberia's micro and small enterprise sector has now started to recover.
AccessBank, The Microfinance Bank, will cater for the needs of the small people, and provide them with much-needed financial services to grow their businesses. We are grateful to the Government and Central Bank of Liberia for their support, and will aim at starting operations before the end of the year.
At the same time, the Central Bank of Liberia (CBL) said it has also granted provision license to Guaranty Trust Bank Liberia Limited to operate a commercial bank in Liberia. The proposed bank has agreed to start with an initial capital of US$10 Million.
CBL said the granting of a license to Guaranty Trust is consistent with the CBL's Policy of expanding the banking sector and promoting composition in the sector, which should benefit the public and the economy.
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