Rokel Commercial Bank will on the 17th September celebrate its Silver Jubilee – 25 years of existence since 1999 when Barclays PLc (which owned the bank since 1917) transferred 100% ownership to the government and people of Sierra Leone. The period following the transfer witnessed stable growth until the escalation of hostilities in Sierra Leone’s civil war of the 90’s.
After the war, there was a period of decline with liquidity and solvency challenges until around 2013 when the government of Sierra Leone provided a bailout package. Consequently, the recapitalization led to a 65% government ownership of a bank that was to become one of the most profitable financial institutions as well as a major contributor to the country’s economy.
However, despite the bailout, the problems persisted until 2017 when a new Managing Director was appointed. The new management headed by a seasoned economist and financial expert, Dr Walton Ekundayo Gilpin apparently had a better understanding of its terms of reference as it set about implementing bold and viable reforms that quickly streamlined the operations of the Bank into a modern, resilient and profitable financial institution.
Key among these initiatives was an ambitious marketing and re-branding programme that witnessed the launch of a new logo, heightened customer outreach, publicity and visibility campaigns, etc. Almost immediately, there was a surge in public confidence and goodwill and prudential statistics like customer deposits, capital adequacy, performing loans etc grew exponentially while annual profit margins increased at a consistent trajectory.
From a paltry Le1.5 billion in 2016 to Le64 Billion in 2017, it was clear that the new management team was on a mission to save the bank from total collapse. In 2020, the bank scooped a mouthwatering profit of Le83.5 billion while retained earnings rose from Le966 Million in 2019 to Le44 billion. In three years, the Bank had cleared over Le100 billion of its retained losses and with positive retained earnings.
Therefore, for the first time in decades, RCBank was poised to pay dividends. It eventually paid a dividend of Le6.5 billion to its Majority and Minority shareholders. The following year, the figure increased to 10.6 billion and in 2022, the bank paid a staggering Le17 Billion as a dividend.
The installation of a robust IT infrastructure heralded a highly securitized and user-friendly core banking system. This system has reduced the length of time customers spend inside banking halls with transactions becoming almost paperless.
A revolutionary mobile money platform, the Rokel SimKorpor has become a major revenue stream for the Bank, and it keeps changing lives through direct and indirect employment. Last year, the Bank launched top-of-the-range Electronic Banking products and services like prepaid cards, credit cards, Visa Cards, ATM machines, Moneygram, Western Union, Ria etc. The effectiveness of these products and services has been palpable with satisfactory testimonies from customers.
Today reputable government and non-governmental organizations like NACSA, TSC, UNDP, World Bank and several others utilizes Rokel Commercial Bank’s digital services to pay their employees and vulnerable groups through social safety net programmes.
The drivers of this phenomenal transformation have not overlooked the need for strong correspondent banking with banks like the Ghana Commercial Bank, UBA-USA, AICTIF Bank, Standard Chartered Bank with a potential to expand further. They have also established strong relationships and leveraged several business opportunities with giant financial institutions across Africa and beyond.
In the midst of these impressive achievements, the bank has remained a front-line campaigner for financial inclusion. To this end, it had unwittingly tailored its products and services to align with its financial inclusion evangelism. For example, in 2021, RCbank introduced an SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) loan scheme that targeted customers with little or no collateral. The scheme had low interest rates, a flexible payment plan and business development training. Okada riders, market women and other groups in the formal sector significantly benefitted from the scheme.