The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr Sampson Kwaku Boafo on Friday appealed to banking institutions to assist in financing education in the country.

He said government alone could not fund education and called on all stakeholders including the banks to build hostels and establish scholarship schemes to assist needy but brilliant students.

Mr Boafo was speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the 14.3 billion-cedis ECOBANK Ghana limited ultra modern office building for its Kumasi office, which was performed by the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

Work on the four-storey building, which started in August this year, is scheduled for completion within 12 months.

If completed it would have a banking hall, boardrooms, a canteen, marketing and Western Union Money Transfer Service apartments.

Mr Boafo praised ECOBANK for its efforts at providing adequate facilities to enable it discharge its work efficiently, adding that the banks operations last year showed that it was the leading merchant bank in the country.

He appealed to the bank to increase financial assistance to people in the private sector particularly small-scale entrepreneurs to enable them to expand their businesses.

The Regional Minister said the government would create an enabling environment for a healthy and reliable banking system in the country.

Mr E. P. L. Gyampoh, Chairman of the bank's Board of Directors, said the number of customers of the bank has increased to about 700, adding that timber companies and business organisations among other economic entities in the West African Sub-region transact business with it.

"A recent addition to our business has been the Western Union Money Transfer Service and we intend to open two additional points in Kumasi in order to increase accessibility to our clients".

He commended Otumfuo Osei Tutu for supporting the bank in its operations in Kumasi.