The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has advised banks to take a leadership role in promoting a sustainable culture in their operations.
The Second Deputy Governor of the BoG, Elsie Addo Awadzi said this will help to build a robust and resilient economy.
Speaking at the launch of the maiden Ecobank Sustainability Week in Accra, the BoG Second Deputy Governor revealed that they had designed a set of sustainable banking principles to be applied by the banks through a collaborative approach.
She indicated that all the 23 banks operating in Ghana had signed on to the principles.
“The principles were not rules-based but a voluntary effort by banks to comply with these very important principles because of the banks’ understanding of their relevance.
“We encourage the banks to comply with them and if not, explain why they could not comply,” Madam Addo Awadzi stated.
She explained that the principles were set out to offer banks the roadmap to inculcate sustainable principles in their operations internally as they relate to their clients.
“We expect in particular that the banks apply these principles to at least five key sectors of the economy, which are agriculture, mining and extractives, fisheries, forestry and construction”.
The Second Deputy Governor of the BoG added that her outfit’s concept of sustainable banking was to help the banks recognise the risks that were posed to the bottom line and the balance sheet and the long-term sustainability and resilience for environmental, social and governance risks.
“Sustainable banking is important for many reasons,” Mrs Awadzi averred.
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