The National Investment Bank (NIB) is expanding its footprint across Ghana as its financial turnaround under Managing Director, Chief Dr Doli-Wura Awushi Abdul-Malik Seidu Zakaria, begins translating into renewed capacity for growth.
The latest expansion will see the establishment of three new NIB branches in the Savannah Region after the Bank of Ghana (BoG) approved the outlets last week.
BoG Governor, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, announced the approval at the climax of the 2026 Yagbon Damba Festival in Damongo on Sunday, August 30, 2026, saying the move was aimed at addressing the region’s severe shortage of banking services.
“For the Savannah Region in particular, we have noticed that we have no more than seven bank branches in the entire Savannah Region. And so for that reason, only last week, we have approved the establishment of three new branches of the National Investment Bank,” Dr Asiama said.
The expansion marks a significant development for a bank that has emerged from years of financial difficulty to record a dramatic improvement in profitability, deposits, capitalisation and overall balance-sheet strength.
NIB recorded GH¢343.9 million in profit after tax in 2025, up from just GH¢2.8 million the previous year, as operating income and net interest income surged.
The bank has maintained the recovery momentum into 2026, reporting GH¢34.3 million profit after tax in the first quarter.
Its financial capacity has also expanded sharply, with customer deposits rising from GH¢6.4 billion in 2024 to GH¢12.9 billion by June 2026, while total assets increased to GH¢14.9 billion.
Perhaps more significantly, NIB’s capital adequacy position has been transformed from a negative 47 per cent in 2024 to a positive 48.1 per cent by June 2026, giving the bank a substantially stronger foundation to support lending and expansion.
That financial recovery is increasingly being reflected in the bank’s physical footprint and business strategy.
Under Chief Dr Zakaria, NIB has been repositioning itself as a stronger development-finance institution, with renewed emphasis on supporting businesses, industries and economic activity through financing and equity participation.
The bank has also embarked on a nationwide engagement with its branches to strengthen operations, improve customer experience and identify opportunities for business growth.
The expansion into Savannah therefore comes at a time when NIB has significantly greater financial and operational capacity than it had in previous years.
For businesses in the region, the new branches could provide much-needed access to financing, particularly for enterprises that have traditionally faced difficulty accessing formal credit because of the limited banking presence.
Dr Asiama said improving access to credit was critical to expanding businesses, creating jobs and stimulating local economic activity.
Push for cheaper credit
The BoG Governor said the approval of the three NIB branches formed part of broader efforts to deepen financial inclusion in Savannah and across the country.
He disclosed that the central bank was also promoting community banking, under which communities could develop business plans and apply for licences to establish their own banks.
“This is important so that communities can serve themselves when it comes to access to credit,” he said.
The central bank is also introducing digital credit initiatives that will allow individuals and businesses to access loans through their mobile phones without necessarily visiting physical bank branches.
Dr Asiama said these measures were intended to improve access to finance while reducing the cost of borrowing.
He said inflation had fallen from about 24 per cent last year to 4.6 per cent as of the previous month, while average bank lending rates had declined from between 27 and 28 per cent to about 15–16 per cent.
The BoG is targeting a further reduction in lending rates to around 10 per cent to make financing more affordable for businesses.
The Governor said cheaper credit would enable businesses to expand, invest and create more employment.
For Savannah, the three new NIB branches are expected to add much-needed banking capacity to a region that currently has only about seven bank branches.
For NIB, the expansion represents more than an increase in physical outlets: it is a sign that the bank’s financial recovery is increasingly giving it room to return to growth and extend its development-finance mandate to underserved parts of the country.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
