Banks in Ghana generate more income from assets than US, Brazil, Nigeria – The Banker

Banks in Ghana generate a high proportion of fee and commission income from their assets than any other country worldwide, according to a survey published by British magazine The Banker April 2012.

The survey saw Ghana up at number one among top 10 countries which included Nigeria (2nd), Argentina (3rd), Senegal (4th) and Brazil (5th).

Poland, Tanzania, Mexico, Romania and the United States followed accordingly from 6th to 10th.

The Banker said it measured the fee and commission income as a proportion of total assets to provide a fee income return on assets (ROA) figure for all the markets. The magazine used end-year 2010 data for the measurement.

Ghana made nearly 2.5% income return from assets while Nigeria had nearly 2.2% based on the 2010 data.

Despite four African countries featuring in the top 10 for fee income ROA, The Banker said this could “reflect a shortage of quality lending opportunities”.

“Of course, these figures may show more than just success in generating fee income. In some cases, the result may reflect banks’ relatively small asset bases in countries where lending opportunities are scarce,” it said.

This ranking, the publication said provides an indication of how far banks are able to generate returns without using large amounts of balance sheet, which may be a more sustainable model with lower inherent risks.

By Ekow Quandzie