{"id":107768,"date":"2025-12-20T17:40:27","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T17:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=107768"},"modified":"2025-12-20T17:40:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T17:40:27","slug":"first-atlantic-bank-ceo-attributes-ipo-and-gse-listing-decision-to-renewed-confidence-in-ghanas-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=107768","title":{"rendered":"First Atlantic Bank CEO attributes IPO and GSE listing decision to renewed confidence in Ghana\u2019s economy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of First Atlantic Bank, Odun Odunfa, has attributed the bank\u2019s decision to undertake an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and list on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) largely to renewed confidence in Ghana\u2019s macroeconomic environment and regulatory framework.<\/p>\n

Speaking in an interview with Joy News at a celebratory lunch event held at the Labadi Beach Hotel on Friday, December 20, Mr Odunfa said improving economic indicators and policy stability created the right conditions for the bank to open its ownership to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt says a lot about the confidence in the system right now, in our business,\u201d he said, referring to the strong response to the IPO.<\/p>\n

He pointed to recent trends in the performance of the Ghanaian cedi, easing inflationary pressures and the posture of economic regulators as key factors influencing the bank\u2019s timing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ghanaian economy today, you\u2019ve seen how the cedi has trended. You\u2019ve seen how inflation has trended. You\u2019ve heard how our regulator has positioned itself, the various initiatives that they\u2019ve taken. You\u2019ve seen what the Ministry of Finance is doing, and you\u2019ve seen what the government is doing. I think it\u2019s a good time for Ghana,\u201d Mr Odunfa stated.<\/p>\n

According to him, the convergence of economic stability and regulatory clarity gave First Atlantic Bank the confidence to pursue a public offering after years of internal restructuring and consolidation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must not minimise it. Things are being done well at the moment. We pray it continues, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re benefiting from. That\u2019s what we\u2019re leveraging,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Beyond economic conditions, Mr Odunfa explained that the move was also driven by the need to broaden the bank\u2019s ownership base and strengthen corporate governance.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, we have to broaden the investor base, and we have to deepen governance,\u201d he said, adding that access to capital would support the bank\u2019s long-term growth strategy.<\/p>\n

He said First Atlantic Bank is pursuing an ambitious expansion agenda, with significant investments in digital transformation, regional expansion and human capital development.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ambitious. We are investing heavily in digitisation. We\u2019re investing in our original expansion plans across Africa, West Africa, and Africa. We\u2019re also investing a lot in the human capital, fellow Ghanaians, developing the capacity, skills, and so on of our people,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Mr Odunfa also said increased market visibility and local investor participation were important considerations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe brand gets more visibility. The brand gets more exposure\u2026 with coming on board of Ghanaian investors, both institutional and individual, we\u2019ll have more belief, more support, more business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On managing shareholder expectations in a volatile economic environment, the CEO stressed that prudence would remain central to the bank\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing we can promise investors is that we\u2019re going to run a decent business, a proper business\u2026 We will aspire to meet market expectations, but we will not cut corners to do so. We will do our business properly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the bank\u2019s earlier restructuring efforts to meet the Bank of Ghana\u2019s capital requirements, including its merger with Energy Bank in 2018, Mr Odunfa said the experience reinforced the value of discipline and long-term thinking.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowth does not come easy. If you\u2019re going to do a good thing, you have to go through a process\u2026 if you do things properly, you will do well. And people would recognise it in the long run,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

First Atlantic Bank, founded in 1994 and licensed as a universal bank in 2011, has grown into a full-service financial institution operating across retail, corporate and institutional banking. Its recent IPO and listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange on Friday, December 19, came after several years of balance sheet strengthening and governance reforms.<\/p>\n

Mr Odunfa said choosing the local bourse was deliberate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re Ghanaians, we\u2019re in Ghana. Where else would we list?\u2026 If Ghanaians don\u2019t believe in the Ghanaian Stock Exchange, nobody else will,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The CEO expressed optimism that sustained economic stability would encourage more Ghanaian firms to access the capital market and deepen domestic participation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"FirstManaging Director and Chief Executive Officer of First Atlantic Bank, Odun Odunfa, has attributed the bank\u2019s decision to undertake an Initial Public Offering (IPO) and list on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) largely to renewed confidence in Ghana\u2019s macroeconomic environment and regulatory framework. Speaking in an interview with Joy News at a celebratory lunch event [\u2026]<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1904,12,8724,14227,2208,1906,1883,14228,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-banking-and-finance","category-business","category-first-atlantic-bank","category-gse-listing","category-hp-business-2","category-hp-news-5","category-national","category-odun-odunfa","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107768\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=107768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=107768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}