The
Gambia Bankers Association (GBA) on Saturday held its annual Bankers Day
celebration at a hotel in Bijilo on the theme ‘Banks for good governance’.
The
day was meant to bring together stakeholders in banking and other financial
sectors, government, and the general public to interact informally and to be
informed about the achievements of the bankers association and its subsidiary,
Institute of Bankers of The Gambia.
Speaking
on the occasion, the minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Amadou Sanneh,
said the government of The Gambia is committed to addressing the challenges in
the financial sector in a holistic manner to boost enterprise growth, create
jobs for youths, diversify the economy through structural change in partnership
with the international community.
He
said the government would provide a stable political and macroeconomic
environment, fiscal discipline and good governance, well functioning legal and
information infrastructure necessary for the growth of the economy.
Mr
Sanneh said the government would ensure a strong financial regulation and
supervision that enable greater market monitoring without distorting the
initiatives and incentives of market participants.
“Through
this effort, broad access to financial services will be facilitated and
achieved with invaluable participation of our banking sector in introducing new
financial products, development of investment banking operations for longer
term investments,” he said.
The
President of the Gambia Bankers Association, Momodou M Musa, said the
association was established in 2002 while its training arm, the Institute of
Bankers of The Gambia, was established in 2011.
The
institute was established with the aim of providing quality training in banking
and finance in line with international standards.
Mr
Musa said the institute, from inception, has made a lot of strides in its
mandate to train bank employees and other members of the public who want to
build a career in banking and finance.
“The
knowledge and skills acquired from the institute is invaluable in the banking
industry for professional services delivery to our ever increasing
sophisticated clients,” he said.
“I
am proud to inform you that we have registered success in the Associate
Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB) examination over the past six years. We
have consistently scored over 70% past rate in the examination and some of our
students have scored distinction grades at the Chartered level.”
The
executive secretary of GBA, Mamour Malick Jagne, said since the establishment
of the association, members have been “busy working together which means
success”.
He
said: “A major milestone in the history
of the Gambia Bankers Association was the signing of a Memorandum of
Understanding with the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria on the 17th
January, 2011.
“The
MOU gave the authority to the Gambia Bankers Association to run the CIBN
curriculum and to serve as an external examination centre. This relationship has changed the quality of
banking training programme in The Gambia.”
The
chairman, board of trustees, Pa Macoumba Njie, said from 2011 to date, the
institute has generously and consistently assisted The Gambia to register,
train and award internationally recognised certificates in banking and finance
to more than 200 Gambians and non-Gambians from diploma to chartered levels.
The
chairman of council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Prof.
Joseph Olusegun Ajibola, also spoke on the event.
