Present in The Gambia since 1997, you are today one of the two leading banks on the market. However, can you briefly tell us what motivated the inception of Trust Bank in 1997 and recall your capital structure ?
Trust Bank started its operations on 1st October, 1997, after having taken over some of the assets and liabilities of the former bank called Meridien BIAO Bank (Gambia) Ltd which was under the possession of the Central Bank of The Gambia. In mid 1997, the Central Bank of The Gambia started the process of privatizing Trust Bank. The Bank was handed over to its new owners, who have been running the Bank, since July 1999. The ownership structure is as follows: Data Bank, which is an investment firm based in Ghana owns 30% of the shares, The Social Security and Housing Finance Corporation of the Gambia owns 25%, Boule & Company, a Gambian company, owns 10%, The Gambian public own 15%, 8% is owned by the employees of the bank, 2% is owned by Great Alliance Insurance company and 10% is reserved for strategic investors.
You had in 1999 a profit of around 40 million Dalasi (3 million $). In order to give our readers a more precise idea of the size of your institution, can you tell us more about your number of employees, level of assets, turnover, etc. ?
As at 31 December 1999, we had 115 employees both clerical and non clerical. In terms of assets, the total assets as at 31st December 1999 was Dalasi 334 Million. The exchange rate to the Dollar at the time was Dalasi 12. The bank's asset has increased from Dalasi 212 Million in December 1998 to Dalasi 334 in December 1999. Profits after tax also went up substantially from Dalasis 14 million in 1998 to Dalasi 40 Million in 1999. The Bank recorded a turnover of Dalasi 86.3 Million in 1999 against a turnover of Dalasi 55.7 in the 1998.
The Bank is also an agent for Western Union Money Transfer Services and because of that we receive lots of transfers and commissions which help in the profitability of the bank.
You are involved in Commercial banking, Investment banking, money transfers, etc. Which sector of activity contributes the most to your profitability ?
It is basically the Commercial Banking and the Money Transfer services.
Talking about commercial banking, you recently opened four new Agencies. What is your investment policy in terms of upgrading your infrastructure ?
We want to bring Banking closer to the communities. In the past people have been travelling so many Kilometers to get to a bank, so what we are doing is bring the bank to their doorstep. The culture of saving hasn't existed for a very long time as some people still keep monies at home. When they have the facilities of a bank near by they can use it to save their monies and also get this money into the banking system. Those new agencies are also a means for people to get better access to their money transfers through Western Union.
Standard Chartered Bank has Money Gram, which is in direct competition with Western Union. They also have ATM systems which do not exist at Trust Bank. Continent Bank now offers the Western Union services. Given those facts, how do you intend to face your competitors ?
Western Union has a policy of having more than one Agent in a country. Continent Bank was taken on board as the other Agent in the Gambia. We are partners in the money transfer business. Our competitor is therefore Money Gram and as you know Western Union is bigger and better known than Money Gram. Western Union has more outlets and with an added value of fast reliable and efficient services.
Our efficient customer service also gives us an edge over our competitors.
Don't you consider Continent Bank as a competitor though ?
Continent Bank is a Commercial Bank. In this respect we are competitors. However, as far as Western Union Money Transfer is concerned we are collaborators.
Do you intend to upgrade your competitive level through investing in ATM ?
As far as this part of the world is concerned, ATMs are new in our market. We are studying the impact it may have and we will decide if we need ATMs or something else.
Perhaps within a partnership with Elf, such as the one between Standard Chartered bank and Shell ?
We are not in partnership with ELF as such but we have an agreement with them to have one of our locations on an ELF site.
| We believe you are now targeting e-banking services. What are your plans in that field ?
Our plan in the area of e-banking is to enable our corporate clients to have access to their bank accounts, starting with the basics i.e. account enquiries, and the printing of statements. This project will be launched hopefully before the end of the year 2000.
Investment banking is one of your recent activities. Which type of customers do you target and what is the purpose of your co-operation with HSBC ? And do you intend to develop any other alliance with local or foreign banks ?
We target corporate clients for our investment banking facilities. HSBC is our main correspondent bank, notwithstanding we have other correspondents in other countries but we deal with them more. Originally, we used to have a lot of personal salaried accounts, because the Government used to pay salaries through this bank, but we are trying to concentrate on corporate banking. To that effect, we have set up a corporate department to handle all corporate activities.
We are interested in developing other alliances especially with foreign banks to facilitate our increasing Trade Finance demands.
Trust Bank is known for participating actively in socio-economic programs, in education, health, etc. To what extent are you involved in the development of the Gambian community ?
We have a policy to participate in beneficial community activities annually. Our donation budget is dedicated annually on the following basis: 30% for the health sector, 30% for education, 20% into community activities and 20% for small donations. We believe that since we are a locally incorporated bank, it is a corporate social responsibility to put money back to the community. We are very active in sports through Western Union, as we finance some footballing activities on an annual basis.
Trust Bank is an example of private foreign investment mixed with local shareholders. How would evaluate the incentives brought in by the Government to attract foreign investors ?
Foreign investors are allowed to repatriate their returns with minimum restrictions. The liberal foreign exchange policy is also an added advantage. Notwithstanding, I still believe there should be some more incentives given to encourage more foreign investments. We believe if the corporate tax was a bit lower, more investors would come in. Besides, the labor laws for employees should be reviewed because sometimes you can reach inextricable situations because of a small dispute.
Do you project to diversify more your activities ?
Yes, we intend to diversify into other areas. For example, we are trying to set up a Home Finance company, separately from our banking activities. We have realized that in the country there is no long term lending in terms of mortgage finance. We want to ease the burden put on people who try to build houses on their own.
At a more personal level, could you enlighten us on your professional background and tell us what would be your greatest challenge in the near future ?
I started work with the defunct Gambia Commercial and Development Bank right after high school, then after three years I proceeded to Howard University in Washington DC, to do a degree in Business Administration majoring in finance. I also did a certificate in commercial banking and a postgraduate degree (MA) in business economics at Essex University in the UK. Since then, I have held different positions in the bank and the latest was when I was executive director for Meridien Bank and served on the board of directors for Meridien Bank Sierra Leone and Gambia. In 1997, I became the acting Managing Director and after privatization I became the Managing Director.
We want to promote the fact that this is a Gambian bank with first class world products and services and we want to continue to compete healthily, getting the best returns for our shareholders. We intend to continue to bring banking closer to the community. We have 9 locations and by next year we intend to have about 11. My greatest challenge would be to transform Trust Bank into the number one bank in the Gambia.
Are you auto financing those investments ?
We are the highest capitalized bank in the Gambia, at 27 million Dalasi. The next highest is capitalized at about 8 million. Investment in the expansion program is not much as these new locations do not cost much to set up.
Perhaps you may have a final message for our readers ?
I want them to come and support Trust bank as a local Gambian Bank with World class standards. We can provide whatever services and products our clients would require. |
