For years, John Akanbelum kept the proceeds from his drinking spot in his room at Sirigu in the Upper East Region.
But keeping his business money at home came with a problem. Sometimes, he returned to find that some of the money he needed to restock his business was gone.
“Sometimes you go out and come, some of the money is not there. Because you keep the money down before you realise, you don’t know where the money is,” he said.
Mr. Akanbelum has since changed how he handles his money. He now saves with a bank and has gone a step further by becoming a shareholder.
“I bought some shares, which helped me keep my money there to help the bank run their business and also help myself in terms of saving my money for a future purpose,” he said.
His decision comes as Naara Community Bank PLC seeks to raise its stated capital to GH¢15 million, three times the new minimum capital requirement for existing community banks.
The bank announced the target at its 35th Annual General Meeting in Navrongo, where it encouraged existing shareholders to increase their investments by purchasing additional shares.
Under the Bank of Ghana’s revised capital requirements, existing community banks are required to raise their minimum capital to GH¢5 million by Dec. 31, 2026, while new urban community banks are required to have a minimum capital of GH¢10 million.
Vice Chairman of the Board Dr. David Azupogo said Naara Community Bank had decided to go beyond the regulatory minimum as part of efforts to strengthen its financial position and expand its ability to support businesses.
“Rather than merely meeting the regulatory minimum, we have set an ambitious target of increasing the Bank’s stated capital to GH¢15 million by the stipulated deadline,” he said.
For 30-year-old teacher Nancy Ayi Awelana, the decision to become a shareholder was shaped by what she had seen from her father’s investment in the bank.
“Over the years I did not have shares with them, but my dad bought shares from them and yearly we get dividends out of the shares that he bought,” she said.
The experience eventually encouraged her to invest for herself.
“When you buy the shares with your money, they do business with the money. And at the end of the year you get profit on top of what you have used to buy the shares,” she said.
For Naara Community Bank, investments from shareholders are also expected to strengthen its capacity to lend to individuals and businesses in the communities it serves.
Chief Executive Officer Abraham Musah said the capitalisation drive is closely linked to the bank’s mandate as a community-based financial institution.
“As a community bank, our purpose of existence is to ensure that we can serve our clients, our customers within the communities that we operate,” he said.
According to Mr. Musah, the bank’s credit portfolio increased from GH¢64 million to about GH¢87 million at the end of 2025, with management targeting GH¢120 million in 2026.
Deposits increased from GH¢128 million to GH¢164 million, while total assets grew from GH¢132 million to GH¢178 million.
The bank’s profit also increased from about GH¢4 million to more than GH¢6 million, he said.
Mr. Musah said the bank wants a significant portion of deposits mobilised from communities to return to those communities through credit to businesses and individuals rather than being placed solely in investments.
“We as a bank, have a quest to ensure that the people within the local community are properly served,” he said.
For customers such as Mr. Akanbelum, that relationship with the bank has evolved beyond having a safer place to keep business proceeds. By purchasing shares, he has become part-owner of the institution holding his savings, while Naara Community Bank looks to shareholders like him to help build its capital towards the GH¢15 million target.
A1 Radio | 101.1 MHz | Moses Apiah | Bolgatanga
