The National Investment Bank (NIB) in Ghana is facing a dire situation as government officials allegedly prepare for its liquidation, prompting cries of government looting and rendering about 850 employees jobless.
Reports indicate that Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta plans to merge NIB with the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), a move viewed as a family and friends transaction due to his recent placement of his sister, Eno Ofori-Atta, as Deputy Managing Director of the ADB.
This news comes despite a desperate plea from NIB staff for government intervention and a capital injection of GHS2.2 billion to revive the beleaguered bank.
Surprisingly, NIB has demonstrated better financial records compared to ADB, raising questions about the logic behind the merger. ADB has not published financial reports for more than five years, a situation deemed incompatible with Bank of Ghana regulations.
Ranking member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Isaac Adongo, argues that restructuring NIB’s balance sheet could generate more than what the bank needs to stay afloat on its own.
Critics, including Adongo, assert that the intention to sell off NIB is ill-motivated and mired in legal, technical, and regulatory flaws. Adongo warns that any attempt to involve NIB without parliamentary consent will be considered illegitimate, as the bank’s establishment precludes the Bank of Ghana and the Ministry of Finance from liquidating or merging it without recourse to parliament.