By Amin Kef Sesay
The two lucky winners of the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank “Leone Stars Cashbox Put Am Dae” promotion were announced on the 6th January 2022. The two, who are Sheku Patrick Koker and Kumba Fasuluku were unveiled during a ceremony that was held at the Bank’s Head Office on Siaka Stevens Street in Freetown.
It could be recalled that the bank was the first institution from both the public and private sectors to announce a cash sponsorship package of Le750M with SLFA.
The two lucky winners from the grand raffle draw of the bank will be supported to travel to Cameroon to support Leone Stars with all expenses covered by the bank during their stay in the first round of play in the tournament.
Acting Managing Director of the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank (SLCB), Bockarie Kalokoh, revealed how the bank heeded to the clarion call of President Bio to support football in the country with the launch of the promotion and a cash sponsorship package to SLFA.
SLCB posted an impressive performance, with a record total income of Le 345 Billion and a trading profit of Le 175 Billion.
According to a report from Sierra Leone Commercial Bank Limited (SLCB), its overall strong trading performance continued unabated as it registers higher annual revenue of over Le 345 Billion and a trading profit of Le 175 Billion almost Le 30 billion above its 2020 performance.
It was learnt by this medium that the support given by the Board and other supervisory stakeholders to the Acting Managing Director and his team was very instrumental in delivering the improved performance as compared to the past years. That’s all the reason the bank was able to make efficient improvements that have resulted in moving non-performing loans (NPL) from twenty-six per cent (26%) to fourteen per cent (14%) within September to December 2021.
This positive growth trajectory is set to accelerate in the 2022 financial year compared with this year’s financial performance if the continued leadership of the present Acting Managing Director, Bockarie Kalokoh is maintained. Our source stated that the bank has got some very, very good lieutenants that are behind the execution, but that Bockarie Kalokoh is the driving force behind it all as it is his strategy that guides the team.
This medium wants to caution that bringing someone from outside to manage the bank will never drive the desired growth of the government because it will be very difficult for such an outsider to know the operations of the bank immediately on appointment. A leadership that has followed the operations of the Bank over years is very critical to get the feet to run the distance in the present very high competitive landscape.
It is further revealed that the present acting Managing Director Bockarie Kalokoh who has been with the bank for over 17 years has got a special character and the long courtship that is critical to not only sustaining the successes gained so far but to delivering strong performance growth.
The One hundred per cent Sierra Leonean owned bank has the largest customer base and its operations are spread out across the country with a 25 per cent market share of total assets. Its solid balance sheet is a key enabler of the bank’s strategy, noting cash operations and asset management have been strong despite supply chain challenges and cash flow pressures experienced by some of its key customers.
Trading profit growth has been exceptional with Shareholders fund/equity standing at Le 454 billion and total assets Le 2.7 billion as of the 2021 financial period, and a cost to income ratio that is below 48 per cent compared to 51 per cent in 2020. The just-concluded AFCON 2021 Leone Stars Cashbox Promotion and its digital innovation drive which simplify banking and enhance effectiveness have made it possible to hit big profit margin than any other bank in the country and that SLCB is poised to give another huge dividend to the Government in 2022.
