The Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Standard Bank Group, Mr Sim Tshabalala, has described Ghana’s stable and resilient democratic environment as a necessary ingredient to attract private investments into the country.
With the current stable political leadership enjoyed in the country, he said the economy could be assured of more private sector investments which would go a long way to augment similar investments in the infrastructure, real estate and energy sectors.
Mr Tshabalala was speaking to the Daily Graphic about Stanbic Bank’s new offer, the Wealth and Investment Proposition.
Notwithstanding the conducive environment in the country, the CEO explained that financial institutions needed to come out with specialised and personalised financial services that would help give the populace a reason to invest.
He said recent statistics showed that the country was the best place to launch the wealth and investment proposition given the growing number of net worth investors in the country.
“Ghana is an excellent place to launch a wealth and investment business, not just because it’s booming now, but also because of its long and proud tradition of entrepreneurship and business innovation even under very difficult circumstances,” he stated.
“This heritage of innovation, determination and resilience is a major part of the reason Ghana’s economy is now among the very few in the world that have continued to grow rapidly, despite persistently difficult global conditions.
“And Ghana is, of course, poised to grow even faster, as the Tweneboah-Nyera-Ntoume (TEN) oilfield comes on stream, and as the country gears up to become, in all probability, the fourth biggest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years,” Mr Tshabalala added.
Wealth Report
According to the 2016 Knight Frank Wealth Report, which was launched in partnership with Standard Bank’s Wealth and Investment Unit, Ghana has experienced the fastest High Net Worth Individual (HNWI) growth rates in Africa over the past 14 years.
The report further showed that HWNIs in Ghana would continue to grow as the Ultra High Net Worth increases by 85 per cent over the next 10 years.
The Head of Africa and International for Standard Bank Wealth and Investment, Mr Deon de Klerk, explained that with the new proposition deals with the bank’s high net worth clients, “what we are trying to do is to work with our clients and the families to make the entire group available to them.”
He noted that the changing economic climate would profit Ghana’s HNWIs if they had more domestic investment opportunities and enhanced access to holistic wealth solutions.
“This is particularly relevant as research shows that the country’s wealthy are, increasingly, concerned about not only creating wealth but how to protect existing wealth by managing risk through uncertain times and preserving wealth between generations, while also leaving a broader social legacy through high impact philanthropy,” De Klerk stated.
He added, “We find our clients to be more multijurisdictional clients than ever before, with families often ending up dispersed across the globe. Many of our clients are also concerned about succession and how their children will deal with the pressures of inherited wealth.
Mr Benjamin Mensah, who was recently appointed Head of the new Wealth and Investment division at Stanbic Bank Ghana, said this, together with the country’s rich history of entrepreneurship, made it an exceptional case to watch.
“Ghana’s latest crop of entrepreneurs are globally connected and have a broad view of the kind of wealth creation and preservation tools required to meet their lifestyle goals while building global capital streams to drive the next wave of growth and opportunity in Ghana,” Mr Mensah said.
He explained that the growing HNWIs segment in Ghana would demand a holistic and tailored approach to their wealth needs.
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