The two institutions announced in September last year AFIG Funds’ undisclosed investment to strengthen FAB’s capital and accelerate its transition to becoming a market leader. Mrs Karen Akiwumi-Tanoh, the Board Chairman FAB and Mr Papa Madiaw Ndiaye, the Chief Executive Officer of AFIG Funds signed the agreement on behalf of their institutions.

Commenting on the agreement, Mrs Akiwumi-Tanoh, said the investment will would go a long way to strengthen FAB’s capital base and position it to continue delivering excellent services to customers.

“We also expect to benefit from AFIG Funds’ experience of investing in and building banks across Africa,” she added.AFIG Funds and FAB have been in talks for several years.

Papa Ndiaye, on his part, said the investment cements the longstanding relationship between both institutions and the partnership with a bank of this caliber, which has a diversified reach across key segments of the economy.

"Our partnership with First Atlantic Bank takes place at an important stage in Ghana’s economic evolution given the new government’s plans and ambitions, particularly in terms of restoring investor confidence," he said.

“As an international investor, we pride ourselves on timing our investments to ideally coincide with periods of great promise in the target country. We are also delighted to partner with a reputable institution like First Atlantic Bank, especially at a time when the Bank of Ghana has taken bold steps to strengthen the banking sector,” he said.

“We believe that First Atlantic Bank has the capacity to become one of the leading banks locally and possibly in West Africa, thanks to the quality of its board and management team,” Mr Ndiaye added. Mr Odun Odunfa, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, FAB, said the agreement marked the first step towards meeting the GHC400 million minimum capital requirement.

He said the Bank had plans to undertake a rights issue and to raise funding from other investors to be able to meet the requirement before the December 2018 deadline and to become a major player at the forefront of strengthening the banking sector. Since its transformation from a merchant bank to a universal bank in 2011, the bank has quickly become one of the more established local banks.