Sierra Leone Business: UTB’s “Glass Tower of Capitalism” opened

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The CEO and founder of the Union Trust Bank, Dr James Sampha Koroma has described the new seven story Corporate Headquarters of the Bank as Sierra Leone’s first “Glass Tower of Capitalism.” He explained “the nomenclature ‘Glass Tower of Capitalism’ was coined by one of the foremost thinkers in Business Management, Thomas Handy and later expounded by the Harvard Review as a structure with a minimum of six (6) surface levels and sixty (60) percent glass façade, it connotes and eloquently expresses financial success, changing the skyline of contemporary rich cities in rich countries around the world, and replacing the castles and cathedrals of the middle ages.” Dr Koroma went on “like those castles and cathedrals before them, the shining Glass Towers of the corporate world are built almost exclusively from the fruits of indigenous enterprise with the World Trade Center, Chase Manhattan and the Trump Tower in New York City leading the pack, followed by the Citi-Group Tower and the Canary Wharf Towers in London; the most valuable square mile in the world, and now the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt and the glittering city state of Hong Kong.” “These are all conspicuous symbols of corporate and national success, with the pride that goes with them” he said adding, “and because they are so conspicuous, Glass Towers are in almost all cases the products of genuine, successful, personal and/or corporate indigenous effort.” Instead of five floors as designed the final product is now seven and the banking hall is a mini replica of that at Commerzbank in Frankfurt it also has fore gardens copied from the Mitsubishi bank of Japan. Dr J.S. Koroma lamented, “my biggest disappointment may be my inability to sufficiently influence more of my compatriots, particularly the young generation towards entrepreneurship away from negative perceptions towards entrepreneurship and service to the country.” He pointed out, “today Sierra Leoneans have less than the per capita number of successful business enterprises, that Sierra Leoneans quantifiable wealth is in the custody and control of foreigners and most importantly, that a greater percentage of the net earnings each year of the financial sector is transferred to overseas shareholders, robs this country of the opportunity to re-invest those resources in the national economy. The CEO said I’m fully convinced that with more effort support for one another collective thrift and personal resilience many more glass towers will sprout out across the country and expressed the hope for the ability to retain and plough back our national earnings into productive sectors of our economy. The Deputy Bank Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone Dr. Brima Steven said UTBank is a giant in the financial sector and a major player in inclusive growth. He said after 21 years of activities the Bank has opened 13 branches across the country with over 700,000 account holders and has 7% of the banking system and 10% of the Banking workforce in Sierra Leone. He applauded the Bank’s portfolio of products targeting rural financing and support to small and medium enterprises (SME’s) and expressed his commitment and determination to promote the financial sector by working towards the reduction of lending rates, banking on your phone and enterprise development fund. The Minister of Finance and Economic Development Momodu Kargbo expressed delight over the “Made in Sierra Leone” concept implemented by UTBank and spoke about the recovery of the economy after ebola and the commodity shock. President Koroma while delivering the keynote address spoke about Government Commitment to promote the private sector and commended UTBank for their investment and encouraged others to emulate his good example. The cutting of tape and a conducted tour of the building and Art exhibition formed a high point of the ceremony. By Saidu Bah [email protected] Monday March 20, 2017.

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