The Agricultural Development Bank PLC (ADB) has disclosed its partnership diversification with religious entities seeking to drive the agriculture growth agenda.
The Managing Director of ADB, Dr. John Kofi Mensah, revealed that the bank is ready to partner with religious bodies to venture into Agriculture.
The ADB Managing Director said this at the official sod-cutting ceremony for the commencement of the Anglican Diocese of Accra Rubber Plantation project at Assin Nsuta in the Central Region financed by ADB. The project is expected to create hundreds of jobs and add about 1,535 tonnes of raw wet cup lumps annually to the country’s rubber production in the country.
The ADB Managing Director commended the church for its initiative to venture into tree crop plantations (especially rubber) to ensure financial sustainability and create jobs for its members. “This initiative is highly commendable and indicates the church’s preparedness to contribute to national development,” he said.
Dr. Kofi Mensah disclosed that the long-standing relationship with notable religious bodies, including the Anglican Church, makes it comfortable to finance the project.
Religious Bodies urged to take advantage of Gov’t Agric policies
The Anglican Bishop of Accra, Rt. Rev. Dr. Daniel Sylvanus Mensah Torto, said the initiative is part of the church’s five pillars of existence and operations. Bishop Torto revealed that the initiative is part of efforts by the church also to take advantage of several government initiatives, including the One District, One Factory, and Planting for Export and Rural Development.
He said the decision to approach ADB was because of its renewed focus on the agricultural sector and its wealth of experience in the rubber industry, which the bank has been financing in the Western, Central, and Ashanti Regions since 1995.
Dr. Kofi Mensah urged religious organizations to take advantage of government intervention programmes like Planting for Food and Jobs, Planting for Export and Rural Development, Fertilizer subsidy, etc., to continue impacting society. The sod-cutting to kick-start the project was done by Vice President Alhaji Mahamadu Bawumia, calling on all other religious organizations to emulate the Anglican Church.
In the bank’s recent donation to the National Best Farmer, the Agric Minister commended the bank for its outstanding support to the nation and urged the bank to do more.
The bank aims at becoming the People’s bank by harnessing the transformational power of agribusiness for wealth creation, growing a strong solid customer-centric providing profitable and diversified financial services for a sustained contribution to agricultural development and wealth creation.
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