Accra, Aug. 19, GNA - A two-day sub-regional workshop on rural finance intermediation for growth and wealth creation in Africa is underway in Accra.

The workshop which attracted 26 participants from financial institutions from Ghana, Nigeria and the Gambia, is being hosted by the Bank of Ghana (BOG), ARB Apex Bank (AAB) and Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) in conjunction with African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA).

Membership of AFRACA comprises Central and Commercial Banks, Agricultural Development Banks and Micro-Finance Institutions in Africa.

The workshop is to provide a platform for discussing innovations in agricultural finance and sharing of experiences that would help to build better funded agricultural sectors in member states.

Issues concerning bridging financial gaps for Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's) and Risk Management strategies in agriculture and client protection and education, as well as partnership for increased agricultural production, would also be tackled.

Mr Millson Narh, Deputy Governor of BoG, addressing the opening session, described the workshop as timely considering the enormous efforts being made by various governments in Africa to eradicate poverty.

He noted that majority of Africans dwelled in the rural areas and urban peripheries and derived their sustenance from the informal, micro and small scale activities in agriculture and cottage industries.

"The implication is that we need to transform these sectors in order to achieve growth and wealth creation in our economies," he added.

Mr Narh pointed out that one of the bedrocks for achieving sustainable economic growth and development in any economy was the existence of a vibrant banking and financial sector capable of ensuring effective and efficient financial intermediation.

He noted that financial systems acted as catalyst for initiating and sustaining economic growth, development and integration.

This, Mr Narh said, was done by providing appropriate solutions to the needs of the people through credit services or insurance against adversities.

"There is no doubt that credit is the oil that propels the engine of economic activity," he remarked.

Mr Narh said one of the single largest constraints to the development of the rural economy in West Africa was the problem of accessing long term credit and that had been confirmed by the World Bank.

He, therefore, challenged participants to come out with workable strategies that would help improve rural agricultural financing in Africa.

Mr Basiru Njai, First Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Gambia, noted that poverty was one of the challenging economic problems facing African countries. "Out of the seven billion of the world's population, about 1.6 billion are living in extreme poverty," he said.

He identified the provision of financial services as a powerful tool to fight poverty and called for the expansion of finances to women in the fight against poverty.

Mr Njai who is also Sub-regional Chairman of AFRACA, said it was imperative to increase access to financial services in order to bring the marginalised into the mainstream as quickly as possible.

Mr Edmund Nkwawa, Managing Director of Dare es Salam Community Bank, pointed out that agriculture was one of the vital tools that could be used to achieve success and urged board members of rural banks to take new steps to transform the agricultural sector.