ADB Steps Up Its Leasing Activities

The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) has stepped-up its efforts and commitment to the asset and leasing industry. This is to provide the bank with better leverage in agriculture equipment financing and also help clients who require specific financing for the acquisition of key assets for business growth and expansion. The commitment of ADB in this sector has thus resulted in close to GH�100million leases written at the end of the year 2011. This was distributed among agriculture, haulage/transportation, construction, gas and oil, among other sectors as well as retail customers. In addition to the GH�100million leases, ADB has forged a strong partnership with relevant MMDAs in financing the acquisition of primary agricultural equipment to strengthen the national goal of transforming the mode of agriculture into a mechanised one. The commitment of ADB is supported through the unit�s development of requisite structures for all credit requests from the bank and relating to movable assets to be transacted under Asset finance arrangements. ADB commenced Asset Finance operations in April 2010 as a new business Unit in the Corporate Banking Department of the Bank under its three-year strategic agenda. The commencement of Asset Finance was aimed at strengthening the capacity and competitiveness of the bank within an increasingly competitive industry, and also to provide the bank with better leverage in agriculture equipment financing. The Unit�s formation has created a bank-wide awareness of the lease financing option of capital assets, and has offered competence and the desired comfort to create and manage asset-based transactions. The creation of the unit has thus attracted many customers with such needs to the bank, as well as customers� awareness relating to tax benefits associated with lease transactions.