Accra, Ghana//-First Atlantic Bank is entrenching its role as one of the leading banks in Ghana’s competitive banking industry with carefully curated initiatives aimed at adding value to society as well to itself.
As a most celebrated bank by way of industry awards as well as a very strong financial performance, it has embarked on these initiatives to positively impact the communities in which it operates for over 25 years.
Deepening support for education and health
Just recently, in line with the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ethos of supporting the education
and health of women and children, it has handed over classroom blocks to the Abua D/A Primary School in the Pru West District of Bono East Region.
That singular gesture is enough to improve teaching and learning in the farming community as pupils used to run home anytime it was threatened by rain.
The project which is fully funded by the First Atlantic Bank included the renovation of an existing six-unit classroom block, washrooms, and the provision of furniture for that block and built another six-unit classroom block including an ICT and staff common room to address the infrastructure needs of the over 500 pupils in the school.
Addressing the teachers and pupils of the school after handing over these classroom blocks and other facilities to the school, the Board Chairman of First Atlantic Bank Mr Amarquaye Amar reiterated the bank’s primary objective which is to help the Pru West District of the Bono East Region to create more conducive teaching and learning environment for education at the primary school level”.
“First Atlantic Bank is proud to have been able to put in place a key building block towards accomplishment of this objective- the renovation, modernisation, and Expansion of facilities at the Abua D/A Primary School”, he added.
BoG commended the bank’s efforts
In a speak read for the Governor of Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison by Nurudeen Yussif Musah, the Bono Regional Deputy Manager of BoG, said “I highly commend the joint effort and commitment of the community leadership together with the staunch support of First Atlantic Bank towards improving the lives of the youth, through the provision of good infrastructure and facilities in the Abua Community”.
Dr Addison further congratulated the management of First Atlantic Bank, staff of Abua D/A Primary School and the community whose spirit of cooperation has contributed towards the project for the benefit of the children.
Nana Kwadwo Nyarko III, the President of Prang Traditional Council who was the Chairman of the occasion in his remarks applauded the efforts of First Atlantic Bank for such a wonderful gift to the Abua community.
He further called on the bank and its allies to shift attention to Pru West to support their developmental agenda of the district.
The District Director of Education, Evans Kofi Mati expressed his profound gratitude to First Atlantic Bank and its leadership for the wonderful edifice and advised the teaching body of the Abua D/A Primary School to ensure they keep them in good shape.
The Abua D/A Primary School project is the fourth major CSR project coming after the Atlantic Lounge, a modern and comfortable waiting area for family and friends of patients on admission at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra in 2021.
Ghana’s First Lady Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo who commissioned the state-of-the-art facility christened- ‘The Atlantic Lounge’ provides sitting space for 150 people and has restrooms and a place for banking services.
Visitors to the premier hospital have attested that the Atlantic Lounge has been beneficial to them and their sick relatives and friends on admission.
No discrimination
The bank does not discriminate in the provision of health and education support which is critical for the socio-economic development of the country.
In this regard, the bank built and handed over a fully furnished classroom unit to the School for the Blind and Deaf in Cape Coast in the Central regional capital in 2019.
Unlike other financial institutions whose CSR projects are only concentrated in the southern parts of the country, First Atlantic Bank’s CSR projects are evenly distributed across the country.
For instance, the bank handed over a fully equipped Mother and Baby Care Unit to the people of Talensi in the Upper East Region in 2018 to provide access to better health care to enhance the general wellbeing of women and children in the community.
What does the bank stand for?
Indeed, the First Atlantic Bank which is a full-scale commercial bank with over 25 years’ experience in the country originally founded as a merchant bank.
It became a universal bank in 2011 with an expanded product portfolio. The bank has won several awards recognising its excelling leadership in customer care, trade finance and corporate banking.
The First Atlantic Bank, which has 35 conveniently located branches and over 40 ATMs dotted across the country, offers excellent and distinctive service in retail, corporate and institutional banking as well as private banking and electronic banking.
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, African Eye Report
