Navrongo, (U/E), Oct. 25, GNA - Mr Emmanuel Andema, District Chief Executive for Kasenna Nankana East, at the weekend called on banking institutions operating in poorly endowed areas to serve as catalysts in the general socio-economic development of the people aside providing banking services.

Mr Andema said this when the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) opened a new branch in Navrongo in the Upper East Region. He said the bank was to respond to the needs of the people as it continued to provide credit facilities to promote and expand economic ventures.

He noted that the district had a potential to contribute to agricultural related activities, saying the existence of the Tono Irrigation Dam in Navrongo opened opportunities for groups that wanted to go into large scale and all year round rice, tomatoes and pepper farming.

He said financial institutions including ADB relied on loan repayment for their financial base and urged prospective beneficiaries of loans to be creditworthy as far as loan repayment was concerned. Mr Andema commended management of ADB for its policies and practices that had propelled the bank over the years. Mr Stephen Kpordzih, Managing Director, ADB, said the branch, being the last of four new branches that had been opened in the northern sector, was a well thought out strategy to reach everywhere in the country.

He said ADB operated in 170 districts with 75 offices and the northern sector offered potentials for increased production of food, industrial and export crops, poultry and livestock and therefore a greater boost for agri-business.

Mr Kpordzi said ADB had added a number of products to the existing QuicCash ATM service such as QuicAlert and QuicMail services. Mr Adam Sulley, Executive Director, Retail Banking, who introduced the "mmfra," "Student Save," "Pension Plus" and "Salary Bonus Accounts" urged the people of the district to patronise them.