SMEs Urged To Bank For Security Reasons

Tamale Central Market

Ghanaian Small and Medium Enterprise [SME] operators particularly those in the country’s major markets, that still do not bank ought to act very fast otherwise, they could soon be on their way out of business and unable to recover again should any natural disaster strike, Sualisu Alidu Mahama Area Manager for UniBank Tamale has cautioned.  

Having an active bank account according to him, could serve as a basic security in the event of fires, flooding, rainstorm disasters and even burglary because financial institutions were most likely to support you to start once again because of the commitment shown in doing business with them over a period of time.

Speaking to journalists during a health walk organized as part of activities earmarked towards the official launch of the newly established branch of UniBank Tamale, Mr. Sualisu encouraged SMEs to start keeping their money in banks since they could never tell what the future held for them. 

The walk through the principal streets of Tamale brought together management, staff and potential customers of Unibank who also distributed fliers to the public as a way of encouraging them to do business with the bank.  

For a business to progress and thrive successfully in any environment Mr. Sualisu noted that, SME operators ought to consider banking as an essential part of running their business, adding that it was safe keeping money in the bank and it also guaranteed them a loan from the bank to restart their business in the event of any liquidation.

Since the beginning of the year, rampant fire outbreaks in markets and other commercial centres were believed to have cost the nation millions of cedis as most of the causes had been attributed to illegal wiring in stalls, the use of substandard cables in wiring, arson and among others.

Also, recent statistics indicated that an estimated 2 million Ghanaians out of the total population of 24 million had active bank accounts. This means that, majority of the populace perhaps still did not understand the relevance of saving money in the bank or saw it to be too burdensome for them to walk into a bank and transact business.

Staff, customers of UniBank Walk to Keep healthy

Mr. Sualisu said, in an attempt to boost the level of clientele of the bank in the bustling city,  management of UniBank had devised an innovative strategy of encouraging the people of Tamale particularly traders in the Tamale Central and Aboabo markets and other business operators to open accounts or save their hard earned money with the bank. 

He explained that management had engaged in what they called “Pitch The Tent” and with this innovative strategy, staff of the bank moved to the markets and other commercial centres to give counseling and advice to businessmen and women as well as try to let them understand why owning a bank account in this 21^st century was so important.

In its twelve year of operation as a wholly Ghanaian owned bank, the Tamale branch which is hosted in a new three storey complex is the 21^st branch to be established and according to the Area Manager, management hoped to expand very fast in the next few years considering the business potentials that existed in Tamale, the fastest growing city in West Africa.

UniBank understands business, he said, and we will treat our customers special because they are the reason why we exist and for that matter, there should be no excuse whatsoever in serving them on daily basis. “Our main focus is the individuals and SME… The SME is really the emerging market and we want to grow this sector”, Mr. Sualisu added.