Mr Kojo Addae-Mensah, Group CEO, Databank on Monday said if the country will grow and develop, it needs a vibrant investment banking industry to support the economy.

He said it was investment banking that developed economies in countries like the United States and other parts of the world.

Mr Addae-Mensah was speaking on “Time with the CEO” in response to the ongoing issues in the financial sector and heightened investor uncertainty in Accra.

He said confidence in investment has gone down with the issue of Menzgold but expressed the hope that with the reassurance from industry players it would pick up soon.

He advised the public to seek investment advice from experts before jumping to invest, “make a lot of enquiries before you invest do not just listen to people and invest.”

On what differentiate Databank from other banks, the CEO said they are not a commercial bank and its regulator was not the Bank of Ghana but rather its regulator was the Security and Exchange Commission.

He said Databank actually needed commercial banks to operate and it would not be in its interest to have partner banks collapse.

He said lack of understanding of investment was a serious widespread problem in the country and more awareness needed to be created, adding that the more knowledge an individual has on investment the less they would be taken unaware of the various ponzi schemes in the system.

He said going forward, Management would deploy technologies to continue to create awareness on its investment opportunities.

He said before management decides to invest people’s money it was guided by law, procedures, policies and board approvals.

Mr Addae-Mensah also said its investment were made it has to be backed by strong research and its key.

“Time with the CEO,” an initiative by Databank gave both prospective and existing clients the opportunity to interact with the CEO in a formal setting, where he responded to questions and issues raised by clients on the topics of investing and Databank.

The event is to create transparency by providing an open forum where any Ghanaian can interact with the CEO and also have all their questions and concerns addressed.

It is also to provide reassurance to investors, who are unsure of what questions to ask before investing, as well as those who are wondering whether Databank is a safe place to invest and to increase awareness about Databank and restore confidence in both existing and prospective clients.

Source: GNA