Stanbic Bank Ghana was recognized as the Best Bank in Cocoa Financing at the Ghana Cocoa Awards, held at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City Accra recently.

The awards ceremony which was organized under the auspices of Ghana Cocoa Board, aimed at recognizing key players in the cocoa sector for their contribution to the growth and sustainability of the cocoa industry.

Receiving the award, Mr. Charles Amoabeng Nkrumah, Sector Head for Consumer Banking, Stanbic Bank indicated that the strategic position the cocoa sector holds in the development of the country informs the bank’s support for the sector.

“Standard Bank, the parent bank for Stanbic Bank Ghana has as its mantra, ‘Africa is our home, we drive her growth.’ Africa’s economic growth is underpinned largely by natural resources, namely agribusiness, mining, and oil and gas.

With cocoa being a key agri commodity, it presents a strategic fit to the bank’s mantra and growth pillars and this is our motivation for supporting the sector”, Nkrumah said.

Ghana’s cocoa sector employs over 800,000.00 farmer households, it’s the major foreign exchange contributor and a key monetary policy tool of the central bank contributing significantly to the country’s GDP.

The cocoa industry is estimated at $15bn in size with most of the value concentrated at the secondary and tertiary sections of the value chain. With Ghana’s strategy being to process at least 50% of our cocoa locally for export, the bank believes we have a lot of scope for growth and further support.

Stanbic Bank has over the past few years cemented pedigree as the best and most active bank in the financing of cocoa related transactions in Ghana. These activities cut across the entire value chain of the sector namely;

1.Ghana cocoa Board annual cocoa syndication
2.Ghana Cocoa Board medium term facilities
3.The licensed Buying Companies annual cocoa funding
4.Cocoa processing and related transactions
6.Cocoa inputs suppliers funding for chemicals and fertilizers
6.Logistics companies for warehousing and transportation
7.Workplace and personal Banking for sector players.

Stanbic Bank sees the cocoa sector as a critical pillar in Ghana’s socio-economic development and as such is committed to supporting the sector.