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Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Limited was registered in Ghana in October 2004 and obtained its universal banking license from the Bank of Ghana on 23rd February, 2006, thereby paving the way for the commencement of operations.
The Bank is a subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, one of the foremost banks in Nigeria with a Triple A rating; the first indigenously owned sub-Saharan bank to be quoted on the London Stock Exchange. In 2008, it became the first new generation indigenous African bank to obtain a banking license to carry out fully fledged commercial banking activities in the United Kingdom.
GTBank Plc, Nigeria, currently owns 95.72% of the issued share capital of the Bank with Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO) holding 2.14% and Alhaji Yusif Ibrahim, a Ghanaian business entrepreneur, holding the remaining 2.14%.
The Bank increased its paid up capital from GH¢10 million to over GH¢76 million well ahead of the Bank of Ghana’s deadline of December 31st 2009. Apart from giving the Bank a competitive advantage in terms of business capacity, meeting the new capital requirement early is a reflection of the Bank’s belief in the Ghanaian environment and its readiness to contribute meaningfully to the country’s development.
Good Corporate Governance remains high on the Bank’s agenda. GTBank is governed by a framework that facilitates checks and balances and ensures that appropriate controls are put in place to facilitate best practices for the Board of Directors and senior management in order to maximize stakeholder value.
The Bank is built on the strengths of its staff, its structures, policies and procedures. Of a total staff strength of 306 people, only three members are Nigerian, the rest are all Ghanaian, reflecting the bank’s preparedness to invest and develop the country’s human capital.
The Bank leverages on its robust IT infrastructure to roll out customized e-banking products and services to meet its Ghanaian customer needs, anytime and anywhere within and outside Ghana.
The architectural presence and serene ambience of our banking premises is a hallmark of the Guaranty Trust brand and is a reflection of the care we take of our environment and of course, our customers and other stakeholders. Within this short period of our existence, we now have 19 branches covering Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi. We intend to spread to other regions and increase our brand network to a minimum of 20 by end of 2010.
The Bank also has an open door policy. This reinforces the informal atmosphere and breeds a feeling of equality. Everyone is accessible and approachable, working in open offices alongside their colleagues. In addition, we have a flat organizational structure that engenders effective communication and prompt decision-making.
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