Kumasi, Feb.1, GNA - The Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB) has presented a cheque for 20,000 dollars to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) School of Business in Kumasi as seed money for its Banking and Finance Chair.

Presenting the cheque at on Wednesday, Mr Jude Arthur, President of the Association, commended authorities at the College of Arts and Social Sciences for initiating the Chair, 'at this crucial time when serious concerns are being raised about the sub-standard practices that had engulfed the banking and finance sectors."

Mr Arthur said his association would expect the School of Business to embark on applied and practice-based research aimed at turning out well-trained graduates, capable of addressing the challenges confronting the two sectors.

He said the donation constituted the first tranche of an estimated 40,000 dollars which the Association had earmarked for the school of business now that it had created a Chair of banking and finance. Professor Kwasi Adarkwa, vice-chancellor of the KNUST, who received the cheque, praised GAB for its decision to fund the Chair and expressed the hope that similar Chairs would be created by stakeholders in the other departments of the University to facilitate research work and academic activities.

Prof John Aheto, a senior lecturer of the school of business was inducted as the first occupant of the Chair, which is expected to facilitate the process of teaching and learning, as well as research in the field of banking and finance.

It would in the long term be expected to also collaborate with stakeholders to embark on pro-active programmes aimed at ensuring standard practice and professionalism in the two sectors for the growth of the country's economy.