An international rating agency, Global Credit Ratings (GCR), has upgraded Fidelity Bank Limited’s national scale long-term issuer rating from A to A+ and has affirmed the Bank’s short term issuer ratings of A1 with a Stable Outlook.
GCR cited Fidelity Bank’s sound domestic franchise, good distribution network and local geographic diversification, stable funding structure and good levels of liquidity as factors that underpinned the ratings.
The agency added that the ratings also factored sound capitalization supported by robust internal capital generation of the bank.
According to GCR, Fidelity Bank Limited is adequately capitalized with a forecast capital ratio of 25% over the next 12 to 18 months.
The agency also indicated that the ratings may improve should the bank further diversify its revenue sources and maintain an internal capital generation rate of over 30%.
Commenting on GCR’s upgraded ratings, Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Ghana, Julian Opuni, said the recent upgrade is as a result of the hard work of the staff over the years.
“The recognition and upgrade issued by a reputable international agency speaks volumes about Fidelity Bank’s commitment to building a good governance culture and an effective risk culture for the benefit of all our stakeholders. This also represents the results of the loyalty and hard work of our staff over the years as well as the confidence that our customers have in us.
“Fidelity Bank is grateful to each and every one who continues to support the Bank to achieve great feats such as this. It is also our promise to consolidate our gains to ensure that Fidelity Bank is still positioned as one of the leading financial institutions in Ghana that continues to create value for all its stakeholders”.
Julian Opuni
Fidelity Bank on course to top 3 target
Over a decade and half, Fidelity Bank Ghana has grown from a discount house to a Tier-1 Bank and is now the largest privately-owned Ghanaian Bank.
The bank serves its approximately 2 million customers in 75 branches across Ghana and is a leader in the digital banking space.
The bank has two subsidiaries, Fidelity Asia Bank Limited, which is a wholly owned subsidiary in Malaysia and Fidelity Securities Limited, an asset management firm. In a short period of time, Fidelity Bank has become a household name in Ghana by adopting a customer-centric culture and delivering consistently on the promise of making a difference in the lives of all stakeholders.
The management of Fidelity Bank has set an ambitious target of becoming one of the top three banks in Ghana by 2024.
According to the bank, it would focus on some key areas such as digital innovation, data insights, value chain optimization, fit for future technology and talent optimization to achieve the target.
The Bank’s Managing Director disclosed during a media engagement that the bank is on course to achieving the set target.
The engagement, which was held at the Head Office of Fidelity Bank at Ridge – Accra, also served as an opportunity for the management of the Bank to tell the Bank’ssuccess story and elucidate its future plans as it celebrates 15 years of banking excellence.
Mr. Julian Opuni highlighted the history of the Bank, noting that the bank’s success was attributed in a large part to the ethos established by its founders, a customer-centric approach and a commitment to create value for all stakeholders.
Commenting on the bank’s support to the SME sector, Mr. Opuni noted that “As the largest privately-owned Ghanaian bank, we feel we have an even larger role to play in the SME space.”
“We have therefore over the years invested in this area; accordingly, we established the Fidelity SME Academy to help SMEs build their capacity. We also launched the Fidelity Young Entrepreneurs Fund to support youth-led businesses with access to finance and non-finance resources among many other initiatives”.
Julian Opuni
He also reiterated the bank’s burgeoning partnership with Development Bank Ghana as a means to provide further financial muscle to the nation’s vibrant and growing SME sector.
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