The Standard Chartered Bank-Ghana, has indicated its preparedness to play active role as an industry player in Ghana's oil and gas sectors.

Hemen Shah, Standard Chartered's new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Ghana and Area General Manager, West Africa, indicated that the bank has a wide-range expertise in the oil and gas sectors in the Middle East, and some African states such as Nigeria, from which the bank in Ghana would greatly rely on, in consolidating itself as a major player in Ghana's oil and gas industry.

He indicated that already, the bank had made significant inroads as one of the largest banks in the energy sector in Ghana, working closely with all energy players and thus, as the sector develops, it would be the cornerstone of their strategy, and would be significantly responsible for a large part of their growth in the future. He said " and we are doing everything that we can to make it a top priority for us. What we bring to the table is the international experience, the expertise from markets similar to Ghana's market."

He indicated that the bank has remained in a very strong position among its competitors mainly because they have maintained a much focused strategy globally. "The bench mark of our strategy is that we have a group of stake holders that we want to ensure that we are the right partners for them and among the key stake holders are our investors, shareholders and customers."

As part of the banks growth strategy, Mr. Shah said the bank would give priority to developing service segments such as corporate and consumer banking to benefit their clients. Mr. Shah, however, predicted a double-digit growth rate for the bank this year. This projection, he said, would be greatly spurred by the possible oil boom in the country.

He indicated that despite the huge influx of banks and the massive role out of branches across the country in recent years, there was still the potential for all the banks to grow.

Comparing Ghana's market to that of other African markets, he concluded that the percentage of people and the penetration of the banking sectors across the continent were relatively limited. "Yes, there are many banks entering the market but relatively speaking, just like in the telecom sector there are a lot of telecom companies but relatively speaking the penetration rate of these services is still extremely low", he added. He was Optimistic about the future prospects of Ghana's economy considering the smooth democratic transition the country has enjoyed in recent years.