The Bank of Ghana fully supports the Agricultural Development Bank’s initiative to raise funds on the Ghana Stock Exchange to finance its future development plans, Acting Central Bank Governor Dr Henry Wampah said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony for work to begin on the Accra Financial Services Centre to house ADB head office departments and units, Dr Wampah said BOG would help any bank seeking to raise funds to expand operations.

ADB early this year said it was seeking to undertake an initial public offer for its shares and to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange.

The Bank of Ghana owns 48 percent of ADB shares while government holds 52 percent.

Dr Wampah commended ADB for its focus on agricultural financing, remaining the major lender to the sector, although he admitted that total contribution to the sector had been on the decline.

He expressed the hope that recent inroads by the bank to rural communities would enable it to regain its focus.

The Accra Financial Services Centre will boast 13,700m2 of prime office space and will benefit from the presence of an esteemed local banking institution.

There would be a 300m2 of ground floor retail space.

Phase II of the development will offer tenants an extra 4,000m2 of office space.

“In addition to the pursuit of giving ADB a permanent Head Office abode, this project adds to the testimony of the tangible progress ADB has made over the years and especially in the last three years,” Mr Stephen Kpordzi Managing Director ADB said.

“We are building a solid, sustainable foundation for an even more accelerated progress in the future,” he said.

The project, which is scheduled to be completed in 18 months, is being done in partnership with RMB Westport and Rand Merchant Bank both of South Africa.

Mr Kpordzi said the partnership was an example of South-South cooperation and an innovative way of delivering financing of development projects.