Monday April 20, 2015 marked the 25 years anniversary of Databank Group, Ghana\u2019s\u00a0premier and leading investment bank.<\/p>\n
The milestone was marked by a launch event\u00a0organized at the headquarters of the investment bank.<\/p>\n
The story of Databank is quite unique. It all begun in the late 1980\u2019s, when the flames of\u00a0nostalgia, deep ambition and patriotism, burned in the hearts of two young Ghanaian men – Ken Ofori-Atta and Keli Gadzekpo-causing them to retrace their steps to their motherland,\u00a0and realize their dream of building a business empire that would be both rewarding\u00a0financially and spiritually.<\/p>\n
These two young, smart Ghanaian visionaries were successfully\u00a0plying their trade in the U.S. – Ken on Wall Street, Keli with KPMG in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n
Yet,\u00a0during a time of economic and political uncertainty in Ghana, these two finance mavericks\u00a0chose to see the daunting task that lay ahead of them as an opportunity to be the first in a\u00a0market that was yet undefined and in a state of flux.<\/p>\n
And so it was, that come 1990, the\u00a0young men had set up shop in a small room in the UTC building in Central Accra\u00a0(Kantamanto) with a short-term loan of US$25,000 as their starting capital.<\/p>\n
Together with\u00a0their partners, including James Akpo, they started a small seed and with the constant\u00a0nurturing of hard work, commitment, a die-hard attitude and an unwavering resolve, that\u00a0seed has grown into a Mighty tree with branches that spread far and wide.<\/p>\n
Today, the world\u00a0knows a Databank that helps both Ghanaians and foreigners alike to achieve financial\u00a0independence; a Databank headquartered in Ghana with presence in Liberia and the\u00a0Gambia; a Databank that has constantly led the way in breaking new grounds in the\u00a0investment banking industry in Ghana; a Mighty Databank.<\/p>\n
Over the years, Databank has made major contributions in the investment banking industry\u00a0through landmark transactions and the introduction of products and services.<\/p>\n
For instance,\u00a0Databank was on hand to compute the first indices \u2013 the Databank Stock Index and the\u00a0Databank Stock Average – used in measuring the performance of the Ghanaian stock market.<\/p>\n
Databank was also the first company to launch a mutual fund product in Ghana (i.e. the\u00a0Databank EPACK Investment Fund).<\/p>\n
Through its mutual fund products and investment solutions, Databank has successfully democratized the participation of the ordinarily retail\u00a0investor, in investment banking in Ghana.<\/p>\n
Databank was the transaction advisor and\u00a0sponsoring broker for African Champion Industries (formerly Super Paper Products Co.)\u00a0initial public offering in the early 1990s. Since then, Databank has assisted several companies\u00a0to raise capital and\/or successfully list on the GSE (e.g., Home Finance Co, SSB Bank, Produce\u00a0Buying Co, Trust Bank (The Gambia), CAL Bank, UT Financial Services).<\/p>\n
More recently,\u00a0Databank has co-managed two of Ghana’s three Eurobonds, and was the sponsoring broker
\nin the listing of the first security (i.e. a GHS80 million medium term note program for Izwe\u00a0Ghana Limited) on the Ghana Alternative Market (GAX).<\/p>\n
The Databank Agrifund Ltd\u00a0(DAFML) is a private equity fund which invests across food-value chains in Africa.<\/p>\n
DAFML hascompleted eight transactions across eight unique countries in Africa, through its AAF-SME Funds\u00a0since its inception in 2012. Some of the investments have received world recognition awards.<\/p>\n
It is significant that Databank celebrates its 25th year under the strong leadership of its third\u00a0Group CEO, Kojo Addae-Mensah, who himself began his career at Databank in 1998 before\u00a0leaving the company in 2000. Kojo Addae-Mensah took over from Keli Gadzekpo in May\u00a02014 to head the Databank Group and has already made a strong statement of his\u00a0commitment to the values of the company: Leadership Excellence, Humility and Integrity.<\/p>\n
Under his leadership, the company has secured a partnership with a savings & loans firm and\u00a0is on course to realizing one of its goals of becoming a universal bank in the future.<\/p>\n
Under\u00a0Kojo\u2019s leadership, Databank now has a presence in five regions in Ghana through its colocation\u00a0arrangement with GT Bank. This is in addition to the existing partnerships with\u00a0Zenith Bank Ghana, UBA Ghana, Stanchart, Barclays Bank Ghana and Access Bank Ghana.<\/p>\n
His\u00a0leadership has also seen the launch of the Databank Educational Investment Fund (EdIFund):\u00a0Ghana\u2019s first educational investment fund with an Insurance component.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the launch, Kojo Addae-Mensah made it clear what his vision and mission are for\u00a0Databank: \u201cTogether with my team, we are going to make Databank the dominant financial\u00a0services firm in Ghana and Africa, and will empower our clients to achieve financial\u00a0independence through promoting financial literacy and offering a diverse range of\u00a0investment products.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event was attended by a cross section of the Ghanaian public, including the founders of\u00a0Databank, Ken Ofori-Atta and Keli Gadzekpo and their families, clients, representatives of\u00a0the Ghana Stock Exchange, Securities and Exchange Commission, partner banks, the media,\u00a0friends of Databank and current and past staff of the firm.<\/p>\n
About Databank<\/strong> The Databank Foundation, which is the\u00a0Corporate Social Responsibility arm of Databank focuses on mental Health, leadership and\u00a0Education. Over the past 25 years, Databank has been instrumental in the development of\u00a0the Ghanaian capital market and has built a strong reputation for its pioneering work,\u00a0including the creation of Ghana\u2019s first stock market indices \u2013 the Databank Stock Index and\u00a0the Databank Stock Average.<\/p>\n Databank was the first to introduce foreign investors to the\u00a0Ghanaian stock market; the first to successfully arrange a merger on the Ghana Stock\u00a0Exchange; and the first to launch a mutual fund in Ghana. Databank is the market leader in\u00a0Ghana\u2019s collective investment schemes industry (which comprises mutual funds and unit\u00a0trusts), with about 58% market share. Databank manages the Databank EPACK Investment\u00a0Fund (EPACK), the most successful pan-African equity mutual fund, which has averaged 40%\u00a0annually since 1996 with a cumulative return of more than 26,000% since its inception.<\/p>\n Credit: Databank<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Monday April 20, 2015 marked the 25 years anniversary of Databank Group, Ghana\u2019s\u00a0premier and leading investment bank. The milestone was marked by a launch event\u00a0organized at the headquarters of the investment bank. The story of Databank is quite unique. It all begun in the late 1980\u2019s, when the flames of\u00a0nostalgia, deep ambition and patriotism, burned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":110700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[4],"yoast_head":"\n
\nHeadquartered in Ghana and with a presence in Liberia and The Gambia, Databank was one\u00a0of the first investment banks to emerge from West Africa, and is now Ghana\u2019s leading asset\u00a0management firm. Databank was co-founded in 1990 by Ken Ofori-Atta and Keli Gadzekpo\u00a0and provides corporate finance advisory, stock brokerage, fund management, private\u00a0equity and research services to a global client base.<\/p>\n