Rokel Bank Holds 47th AGM

By Amin Kef Sesay

Minority and majority shareholders from the second largest and fastest growing Bank in Sierra Leone – Rokel Commercial Bank have read and adopted the Banks’ 2018 and 2019 Financial Statements at their 47^th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Friday 16th October at the Vanilla Complex, Aberdeen.

Perhaps, a key highlight of the event was when the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Buffy Bailor openly bestowed confidence on the Bank’s current Management headed by a UK trained Economist and Banker, Dr. Dayoh Gilpin. In spite of the negative impact of COVID -19 on the financial sector, Buffy Bailor said the Bank is on an upward trajectory with enviable prudential statistics.

“The Banks revenue increased significantly by 48% in 2019, compared to 2017 on the back of strong interest income on Government securities, which accounted for 68% of total revenue,” he revealed.

The 2019 Financial of the Rokel Commercial Bank reveals it is in a very healthy position – with positive retained earnings amounting to Le966m. A Le79, 439, 041 Billion Leones Profit Before Tax may not have been significantly higher compared to  its  2018 profit after tax of 79, 270, 123 Billion Leones. However, a significant leap from Le46Billion negative retained earnings of 2018 means the Bank now has stable profit and can be in a position to pay dividend to its shareholders. With enhanced operational capacity, the Bank was recently able to pay some 29,000 beneficiaries of a NaCSA safety net programme.

Speaking on behalf of Government, the Financial Secretary, Sahr Jusu whose prepared statement was read by a senior official of the Finance Ministry, Charles Conteh had this to say; “After several years in the negative, the Bank has been able to register positive retained earnings in 2019. The Banks’s capital has been cured, recording a capital adequacy ratio of 57% by end of 2019, a 42.2 percentage point above the minimum threshold of 15% set by the regulator. For the first time in several years, RCB is declaring dividend to its shareholders. We hope that the Central Bank will ease restrictions to allow actual payout to shareholders.”

With 65% shares, the Government of Sierra Leone remain the majority shareholder of the Bank while the remaining 35% shares are held by private individuals. The AGM also attracted the Chairman of the National Commission for Privatisation, Prince Harding.