Ghana International Bank Trains Over 60 Bankers On Trade Finance | Banking/Finance

Ghana International Bank (GHIB), a Ghanaian bank incorporated in the UK, has facilitated a trade finance training program for over 60 bankers from six West African countries.

The four-day trade finance training seminar in Ghana focused on the various international trade finance products that banks can use to serve their customers.

Speaking to the media at the closing ceremony of the training, Baafuor Ohene Abankwah, Country Representative, Ghana and Head, Client Coverage Africa, said the training is part of GHIB’s efforts to deliver quality banking services and provide a bridge to Ghanaian banking institutions.

“As a UK-incorporated Ghanaian bank, we have been at the heart of trade finance in Africa for many years, since the 1950s.” We believe that we have a role to play in building trade finance capacity so we are passionate about organizing such training programs. This is the eighth session, and we have more than 60 bankers from six countries in West Africa who will be equipped on how to facilitate trade between the countries they represent and the rest of the world.

“Also, there is a huge opportunity for trade finance on the African continent. Here in Ghana, we have some products that are needed in West Africa, and banks and financial institutions can do more to facilitate it. Some of the ways that banks can do- bank. what to provide financing that allows factories to expand and entrepreneurs to make and receive payments. , “he added.

On his part, John Awuah, the Chief Executive Officer of the Banks Association of Ghana, said the exercise is timely for banks in West Africa to better understand trade finance instruments that can help in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“The good thing about trade finance is that it makes transaction costs manageable because they are lower compared to conventional financing, so trade finance products provide a bridge that allows businesses to access financing in a cheaper way.”

“We had a very interesting session with the facilitator of this program that focused on understanding trade finance instruments – the instruments used to carry out international trade as a bank that works for customers. trade and get goods delivered to their doorsteps while the banks know more about the topic this,” he said.

GHIB has contributed immensely to the Ghanaian economy since its inception by cooperating closely with several banks in the Ghanaian space. The Bank has facilitated the importation of goods and the exportation of some Ghanaian produced commodities. GHIB has been at the heart of some of the largest syndicated transactions Ghana has undertaken and is involved in the flow of remittances in Ghana and west Africa.