Regional course on banking supervision opens in Accra

A regional course on banking organized by the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM) has opened in Accra today June 27, 2011.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the course, Professor Akpan H. Ekpo, the Director General of WAIFEM, said the course is intended to introduce the participants to key roles of the central bank in economic management and financial stability.

“Indeed, courses on banking supervision have become quite relevant given the ever increasing challenges of ineffective risk management, inadequate internal controls and poor governance in financial management”, Prof Ekpo.

He therefore urged participants to use the opportunity to interact with each other since that can foster “economic integration in the sub-region.”

In a speech read on his behalf, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur commended supervisors of banks across the West African sub-region for ensuring that basics of the industry principles are adhered to.

Mr Amissah-Arthur said some of the challenges facing bank’s supervisors in the sub-region include capacity building, information sharing and communication, international financial reporting standards (IFRS) as well as harmonization of supervisory practices.

Some core areas the course will tackle are Money Laundering, Legal and institutional framework for the regulation of Banks, Report writing, basic accounting, among others.

The participants are mostly from the Central Banks of Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, the Gambia and Sierra Leone.

The course commences today June 27 and will end on July 1, 2011.

The course is in collaboration with the College of Supervisors of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ).

By Ekow Quandzie