By Amin Kef Sesay
Barclays Bank Sierra Leone officially transferred ownership of the Bank to the Government and people of Sierra Leone on the 17th September 1999 and 21 years ago Rokel Commercial Bank was born. Even though the Bank has existed for 103 years it is important to highlight this significant part of its history.
On Thursday 17th September 2020, activities to commemorate this change of ownership kicked off with religious services in all its branches nationwide. The Bank’s PR team was also busy with live radio and TV talk shows to further enhance the visibility of the event as well as remind citizens about Rokel Commercial Bank’s impressive transformation through innovation and an overhaul of its entire operations to meet the demands for modern day banking.
Perhaps, the biggest of these low key events was last Saturday’s Beach Walk in which the Bank’s top Management and staff participated to promote a healthy life style as well as reflect on how to continue repositioning the Bank as a top player in Sierra Leones’ financial industry. At the event, the Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility credentials were expounded by the Managing Director, Dr. Dayo Gilpin who mentioned their involvement with helping vulnerable groups, environmental protection and support to educational institutions etc. 
According to the erudite MD, the COVID 19 pandemic may have challenged their resolve to pay dividend to their esteemed shareholders this year but that does not take away the fact that the bank has made excess profit in the form of retained earnings in 2019.
Digital online banking, VISA debit card and the revolutionary mobile based Rokel Simkorpor, according to Gilpin, have been made available to make banking extremely easy and swift for customers. He said the recent expansion to Bonthe, Kailahun, Kabala, FBC, Wilberforce etc was in response to Government’s clarion call for financial inclusion.
The 2019 Financial Statements of the Rokel Commercial Bank revealed that the Bank is in a very healthy position – with positive retained earnings. A Le79, 439, 041 Billion Leones Profit Before Tax may not have been significantly higher than its 2018 profit after tax of 79, 270, 123 Billion Leones. However, a significant leap from Le46 Billion negative retained earnings to Le966m positive retained earnings in 2019 means the Bank now has stable profit and can be in a position to pay dividends to its shareholders.
With an enhanced operational capacity, the Bank was recently able to pay some 29,000 beneficiaries of a NaCSA safety net programme.
