Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you all to the 16th Annual General Meeting of your bank, Access Bank (Ghana) Plc. I now declare the meeting open and call on Mr. Sampson Ashong to lead us in the opening prayer. Good morning. Shall we please bow down our head for I shall pray. Gracious and everlasting Father, we want to thank you for how far you've brought Access Bank. For the past 15 years, you've guided and protected Access Bank. You've brought the bank to the edge of the mountain, and we know you helped them to climb it. You brought Access Bank to the edge of the bridge, and you helped them to cross it. You've also brought Access Bank to the edge of the sea, and you part the sea for them to cross. Father, today marks the 16th Annual General Meeting of Access Bank Plc, and we pray, oh Lord, that you take absolute control of whatever will be carried out here at the meeting to the successful end and to the glory and adoration of your holy name. For without you, Father, we can do nothing. Everlasting Father, I entrust the board chairperson, directors, and management into your care. Grant them wisdom, the spirit of understanding, knowledge, that they will be able to bring Access Bank to a level that will be such that Access Bank will be a force to reckon with in the comity of banks in Ghana. Everlasting Father, we know you have done it, so we ask this in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Master, and Savior. Amen. Amen. Thank you very much, Mr. Ashong. I would now like to invite a member of staff, Ekua Innocent, to read a memoriam in honor of our late Dr. Herbert Wigwe, founding Group CEO and former Group Managing Director of Access Bank Plc Nigeria, who tragically died alongside his wife and son on the 9th of February 2024. 2024 started on a tragic note for the Access Group, with the untimely demise of our co-founder, Dr. Herbert Wigwe, his wife Doreen, and their son Chizi. While we mourn their irreplaceable loss, we are consoled in the knowledge that he impacted his indomitable spirit and resilience to the entire Access global family, which will continue to spur us on in executing his vision to his honor. We take this opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate the immense support of you, our shareholders, customers, and stakeholders, in commiserating with us through the difficult period. We will continue to honor the memory of our dearly departed, Herbert, Doreen, and Chizi. May God continue to grant their souls glorious and eternal rest. Amen. Amen. Thank you very much, Ekua. As we continue to celebrate the life and legacy of Herbert, we would like to share a special tribute video that honors his memory. I will tell you something about being fearless, that powerful state of mind where you refuse to be constrained by the consciousness of your limitations. Have to go, have to go, have to go. If you can't come with me, I'll understand. Can we meet in the dark? We don't have to say much. And if you have to go, have to go, I let you go, let you go. I let you go, let you go. Access warriors! Unbound, advanced, unbroken. Access warriors! Unbound, advanced, unbroken. Access warriors! Unbound, advanced, unbroken. As we observe a minute of silence, let us remember his tireless efforts to drive growth, innovation, and sustainability. Let us honor his memory by continuing to strive for excellence, to drive positive change, and to make a difference in the world around us. Shall we now observe one minute of silence in memory of Herbert? May God continue to grant the souls of Herbert, Doreen, and Chizi, glorious and eternal rest. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to express my gratitude to our shareholders for joining us this morning. I do hope that those of you joining virtually and on live stream will have no issues participating fully in these proceedings. The registrar has confirmed that we have the requisite quorum to constitute this meeting. Before we start on the formal agenda for the meeting, I would like to introduce to you very briefly, my colleagues on the board and the company secretary. My colleague directors are: Ms. Hadiza Ambursa, Mrs. Yvette Adounvo Atekpe, Mr. Oluseyi Kumapayi, all joining online. In person, we have Professor Elikem Kuenyehia here, Mr. Jacob Kholi, Mr. John Bayuo Warisa, Mr. Olumide Olatunji, Managing Director, Mr. James Adentwi Bruce, Executive Director, and Ms. Pearl Nkrumah, Executive Director. In the company secretary's chair, we have Company Secretary, Ms. Helen Decardi- Nelson. Are you going to project our directors? Okay, I think they're okay. Mm-hmm. We have also represented here this morning, for the Ghana Stock Exchange, Mrs. Joyce Boakye. For the Bank's Registrar Central Securities Depository, Mr. Kwame Buampong- Sem. Our auditors, Ernst & Young, represented by Ms. Pamela Des Bordes. Representatives from the Securities and Exchange Commission and from the Bank of Ghana are joining us online. Mm-hmm. To participate in today's meeting, please listen carefully to the following instructions. For the Q&A session, may I inform all remotely present that this live broadcast has a messaging platform to aid interactions. You can participate in the meeting through a chat box, which you will find on the right or bottom side of your broadcast screen. To second a motion, send a comment or question. We advise you to do so using the chat box. Your questions will be read out from the message console. May I request that you state your questions or concerns in a clear and legible manner, and please be sure to indicate your name. Instructions for casting of votes. We have provided two options to enable you participate in the voting exercise in real time. Option one: voting via the online platform. To vote using the online platform, kindly locate the vote box on the bottom of your broadcast screen and follow these steps. Step one: enter the same five-character alphanumeric code used to join the meeting. Step two: cast your vote. Step three: once you have done this, you will see a list of resolutions to be voted for. Step four: following the voting process by clicking the plus sign, and then select your voting option. Option two: voting via short code, star eight nine nine, star three, hash. To vote via short code, kindly follow these steps: dial star eight nine nine, star hash, on your phone. Enter the same five-character alphanumeric code used to join the meeting. Once you have done this, you can now select your vote option and press Send. Notice of meeting. I now call upon the company secretary to read the notice of meeting found on pages 151 to 152 of the annual report. Thank you. Notice is hereby given that the 16th Annual General Meeting of Access Bank (Ghana) Plc will be held virtually and streamed live by video link from the Access Bank (Ghana) Plc head office at Starlets '91 Road, opposite the Accra Sports Stadium, Osu, Accra, on Thursday, 20th June, 2024, at 11:00 A.M., to transact the following business: A. Ordinary business. One, to consider and adopt the audited financial statements of the company for the year ended 31 December, 2023, together with the reports of the directors and auditors thereon. Two, to re-elect the following directors of the company retiring by rotation: Ms. Ama S. Bawuah, Ms. Hadiza Ambursa, and Mrs. Yvette Adounvo Atekpe. Three, to approve the remuneration of directors. Four, to authorize the directors to fix the remuneration of the auditors. B, special business: To approve by special resolution the amendment of the company's constitution to align with the Bank of Ghana's Corporate Governance Directive 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission Corporate Governance Code for Listed Companies 2020, the Ghana Stock Exchange Listing Rules, the Companies Act 2019, Act 992, and other applicable laws and regulatory directives. Dated this 28th day of May, 2024, by order of the board. Thank you very much, Helen. The chairperson's statement can be found on pages 13 to 14 of the annual report. In the interest of time, I seek your permission to take this as read. We now move to the formal business of this meeting. 2023 annual reports and accounts. Each of you should have received copies of the accounts of the bank and the report of the directors published on the bank's website and shared with you via email. With your permission, once again, I would like to take them as read. Independent auditor's report. The independent auditor's reports can be found on pages 92 to 95 of the annual report, which has been shared on the bank's website. I now call on the representative of the bank's statutory auditors, Ernst & Young, to read the auditor's report. Good morning, everyone, and thank you, Madam Chair. With your permission, and in the interest of time, I will read just the opinion paragraph. Thank you. This is the independent auditor's report to the shareholders of Access Bank (Ghana) Plc, report on the audit of the financial statement. We have audited the financial statement of Access Bank (Ghana) Plc, the bank, set out on page 96 to 146, which comprised the statement of financial position as at 31st December 2023, the statement of comprehensive income, the statement of changes in equity, and the statement of cash flows for the year ended, and notes the financial statements, including material accounting policy information. In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the bank as of 31 December 2023, and its financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, including the IAS 29 Hyperinflation Directive issued by the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana, and in the manner required by the Companies Act 2019 (Act 992), and the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act 2016 (Act 930). This was signed by myself, Pamela Des Bordes, for and on behalf of Ernst & Young, and it was dated 28th March 2024. Thank you very much. Thank you, Pamela. Reports of directors and accounts. We now come to the first item on the agenda, which is to lay before the meeting the accounts for the financial year ended 31st December 2023, and the reports of the directors, auditors, and the audit committee thereon. I now lay before you the audited accounts sent to all shareholders, as required by Section 128(1) of the Companies Act 2019, Act 992. We will now take questions and comments on the accounts or the reports. Please remember to provide your names and make use of the chat box section at the bottom or right side of your broadcast screen. Thank you for the opportunity, Madam Chairperson. My name is Sampson Ashong, a shareholder of Access Bank Plc. I am also the General Secretary of the Shareholders Association of Ghana. I have a few questions to ask in connection with the accounts. But, Madam Chairperson, permit me to just make a little appeal here, that in subsequent meetings, can we also have in-person meeting, or at least what we call the hybrid, where people outside can also partake, where we have both in-person and a virtual, a combination of that? So that in doing that, there will be more interaction, you know, people will come back and with ideas coming up, which will also lead to the progress of our noble bank. Let me also start by congratulating the bank for the excellent result posted in spite of the difficult economic challenges and the lingering effects of the DDEP, as we are all aware. Congratulations once more. Our only disappointment is about the non-payment of the dividend but we know you are keeping it for us, so next year, maybe, God willing, we'll bring our baskets to collect them. Whilst on that, let me also talk about the various levies that the banks pay, including Access Bank. We feel that they are a bit many, and we'll suggest that you appeal or move to your Association of Bankers. Let them look at the issues and see how best they can lead that. In fact, let me just give example. There's this financial sector recovery. Apart from the normal, the statutory tax that you pay, 25%, we have this financial sector, which is 5%, and then the national stabilization levy, also another 5%, and the growth and sustainability levy, which is also another 5%. We believe that these levies are actually working against the bottom line and will also finally affect our dividend. Take it up with them. We are only asking for a reduction and maybe a scrapping of a few of them. I also want to congratulate on the environment. In fact, especially Sandal More, using car tires to make sandals, old ones that could be discarded and be against the environment. You use it for sandals for school children. That is a noble idea, and you need to be patted at your back. You have impacted 5 regions. We pray that the remaining 11 ones will also be impacted as early as practicable. Thank you once more for that. Your water and electricity conservation is also another thing that we have to give you a pat on the back, and then the tree planting initiatives. Please keep it up. We need a lot of greenery in Accra to help the climate change. Digitalization, yes, that is the way to go now. But then in addition to that, I just want us to just discuss this issue passionately. Digitalization comes with its problem, cybercrime, and so I would only like the board and management to give us that level of assurance that management and board are really on top of it, and that there are a lot, a robust sort of initiative that is in place so that our platforms will be safe and be... Cybercrimes will be taken off by, and it will not affect the bank, which will lead to us losing money. Let me also congratulate you on the capacity, capacity building for the directors. That is very excellent. Hope that it will continue. Evaluation, what I normally emphasize is about the evaluation of directors and the committees that you have set up. These are all being done when I went through them. That is also very good, and we'll pray that you take it up. The succession planning, it is very, very important, as well as the business continuity planning that will ensure the long standing of our, our bank. You're working on all these things very well, and I pray that you continue it. I know we are now getting to the end of the second quarter, and I believe that you have triggered the evaluation for 2024. And then let me just come down to the final question. It's about other operating expenses. I've gone through it. You have really managed the cost, but I think that on page 13, the operating cost on the admin and other costs should be managed further. You've done well, but let us manage it further so that we can have a lot to really boost up our retained earning. Thank you, Madam Chairperson, I am done. Thank you very much, Mr. Ashong. So, I will attempt to answer question one, and then I'll hand over the rest of the questions to our Managing Director to answer. On question one, Mr. Ashong, you are indeed right. We had this high on our agenda of discussions. Unfortunately, due to some challenges in confirming the date of the meeting, we were unable to secure a venue in time to enable us meet our regulatory, you know, obligations in concerning the holding of the AGM. So this is indeed taken into consideration and taken under advisement. So Olumide and team, over to you for next year's AGM. So Olumide, over to you for the remaining questions. Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Mr. Ashong, for your very kind words about the performance of the bank. So I think on behalf of the board and management of the bank, we take it as a compliment and a call for us to do even much better. The issue of dividend has been noted in terms of what the shareholders want, and we want to believe that by the time we are having the next meeting in person, we will be in a much better position to make our shareholders happy as a result of the payment of dividend. But thank you very much for that comment. As far as levies are concerned, I think it's something that we are also paying attention to, as an association, and we are having the necessary engagements with the authorities. Some of these things may take some time, but I think the idea is to keep the conversation going, and then let's see how we can work together with stakeholders in the financial sector. The comment on the Sandal More project is also noted. I think it's something that we seem to have done well, and we would expand to the other regions, as you have stated. We had some very interesting conversations with the relevant bodies even yesterday, and we have their support to take this to the other regions in Ghana. So watch that space, you'll see much more happening over the next couple of months. Thank you for the comment on other aspects of our sustainability plan. It's well scripted. It's not by chance, it's something that we take very seriously in Access Bank, and of course, we continue to follow that program to ensure that we are responsible in how we do business in Ghana and of course, across Africa. The comment on digitization is also well noted. We have invested very significantly in that space, getting the right people. That business is led by an executive director. We have also invested in our IT infrastructure to ensure that we can support the growth aspirations that we see in the retail space. A couple of the facts, in fact, we also spoke about the fact that we have to be watchful of what we see from a cybercrime perspective. So yes, we have also put in place, structures to support what we do, to ensure that we operate in a safe, in a safe manner. We have a SOC, Security Operations Center, here in Ghana, also supported by the Bank of Ghana, and then we also have a group SOC that reinforces what we do, in Access Bank Ghana. As we speak, some of our colleagues are also in Nigeria, to support, the global conversation, that we, that we seek to reinforce in our business in Ghana. So the interaction is happening, the training is happening, across the various countries in which we operate, and I think we have invested very strongly in that space. So rest assured, that we continue to operate, within the boundaries of regulation in a safe and of course, in a responsible manner. Thank you for also noting the point around capacity building. I think it's something that we take very seriously in terms of training, training of management, training of board, and not just training, relevant training, to ensure that we can be the best in what we do. So it's, it's not something that we are shy of. I see that when you are talking about cost, you didn't say anything around the staff cost or training expenses. So I will take that from you as an endorsement of what we do, and that we should spend more, on capacity development. From a cost perspective, that is not a challenge. We will continue to spend more to make sure that our staff are well-trained and they are well taken care of in terms of compensation. So I noticed that you didn't seem to have an issue with that. We don't have an issue with that also as a bank. We'll continue to do more of that for our staff, for our board members, and for... so that we can continue to churn out the best of professionals in the work that we do. A conversation that we had just yesterday, I was reinforcing the observation that we have seen in the work that we do in Ghana. Talking about what we do on a sustainability, sustainability basis, that we have seen that the talents out of Access Bank Ghana, in the work that we do in the Access nation, when we go for the training, at the center, that's in Nigeria, Access Bank Ghana seems to come tops in most of the conversations we have around training. And the awards that we see, in terms of performance in the training school, is a testament to the fact that, the resources that we see in Ghana, particularly Access Bank Ghana, is a very good example of what we are seeing, from an intellectual standpoint in terms of what we are doing from training. So we continue to reinforce that because we see that, it's taking its positive place in the work that we do, in the business of banking here in Ghana. Succession plan is also key for us. We have a robust succession plan, and we are scripting that very carefully to ensure that we build the capacity, not just the plan, but the capacity of people that occupy that office, is strengthened, is tested, and of course, we follow through to ensure that, we can continue to send materials out of Ghana to other African countries in which we operate as an endorsement of the work that we are doing here. The final thing you spoke about was around our costs and our cost management. I think we'll continue to do more, but I think from a cost-to-income standpoint, I think we're in a good place. Less than 30%, cost-to-income ratio, I think is a significant plus for us. But we continue to ensure that the business that we do, where we see opportunities to optimize, digitize, scale, and efficiency, we definitely continue to pay attention to it. So thank you, Mr. Ashong, for the very robust commentary. Most of it were very positive, and we take it with a lot of humility. The management and the board of the bank is extremely grateful for the support we continue to receive from you shareholders. Rest assured, by God's grace, we should be able to have that in-person meeting next year, and I believe that the performance as we have started this year, with the support of all the stakeholders, we should be in a better conversation in terms of dividend payment, by the time we're having the next general meeting. Thank you very much. Thank you, Olumide. There are no questions online, and so we will move on to the ordinary business of today's meeting. To facilitate a smooth conduct of the business of the day, I will move each motion and invite seconders for each motion from the floor. The seconders are kindly requested to state their names to enable the secretary take proper notes of the names. So first item on the agenda is re-election of directors. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 325A and E of the Companies Act 2019, Act 992, at the subsequent AGMs as a public company, one third of the directors are required to retire from office and may present themselves for re-election. In this regard, the following directors will retire at this meeting and are hereby presenting themselves for re-election: myself, Ama S. Bawuah, Miss Hadiza Ambursa, and Mrs. Yvette Adounvo Atekpe. So I will now hand over to Olumide for voting on my re-election. Thank you, Madam Chair. Okay. I therefore move that Madam Ama S. Bawuah be, and is hereby re-elected as a director of Access Bank (Ghana) Plc. Will someone please second the motion? Thank you. The name is Sampson Ashong, a shareholder. I do second the motion. The motion has been seconded by Mr. Ashong. Thank you, Mr. Ashong. We will now take questions and comments on the re-election of Ms. Ama S. Bawuah. I now put the motion to the meeting. Voting will now commence. Voting on this resolution is now closed. So we have 21 votes in favor of the motion and zero votes against. I declare that the motion to re-elect Ms. Ama S. Bawuah has been duly carried. Congratulations, Madam Chairperson, and I'll hand over proceedings back to you. Thank you, Olumide. Moving on, I now move that Ms. Hadiza Ambursa be, and is hereby re-elected as director of the bank. Will someone please second the motion? My name is George, the president of the Association of Shareholders on the stock market. I second the motion. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. George. Thank you. The motion has been seconded by Mr. George. We will now take questions and comments on the re-election of Ms. Hadiza Ambursa. I now put the motion to the meeting. Voting will now commence. Is now closed. We have 27 votes to re-elect Ms. Hadiza Ambursa for, and zero votes against. I declare that the motion to re-elect Ms. Hadiza Ambursa has been duly carried. Congratulations, Ms. Hadiza Ambursa. I now move that Mrs. Yvette Adounvo Atekpe be, and is hereby re-elected as a director of the bank. Will someone please second the motion? Motion has been seconded by Kofi Bawuah. Thank you, Mr. Bawuah. We will now take questions and comments on the re-election of Mrs. Yvette Adounvo Atekpe. There being no questions, I now put the motion to the meeting. Voting will now commence. Voting on this resolution is now closed. Votes to re-elect Mrs. Atekpe as director of the company: total votes 23, votes for 22, votes against 1. I declare that the motion to re-elect Mrs. Yvette Adounvo Atekpe has been duly carried. May I express my appreciation to shareholders for reaffirming their confidence in the three re-elected board members, and we pledge to continue to do our duty to the bank. Moving on to notice of resignation of a director. I would like to bring to your attention that Mr. Dolapo Ogundimu resigned from the board effective June 2023, to pursue other interests. He is thus no longer a member of the board of the bank. Dolapo is, however, a long-standing member of the Access family, having been with Access Bank Ghana from its inception, and he will be dearly missed. We wish him the best in his future endeavors. Remuneration of directors. The next item on the agenda concerns the fees to be paid to the directors in respect of the financial year ending 31st December 2024. Following the engagement of an external consulting firm, KPMG, to conduct a market survey on directors remuneration with peer banks in April 2023, the board considered an increase in fees to ensure that directors' remuneration was competitive, as well as within the top 20% of the industry. However, due to losses made by the bank as a result of the DDEP, the board decided that it would be inappropriate to request that shareholders consider an increase in fees at the bank's 15th AGM, held on 26th May last year, which is 2023. The last review of directors' fees was conducted in 2021, pursuant to an industry review by KPMG. In line with the requirement for periodic review to ensure that the bank's compensation for its directors is competitive. The external consultant was engaged earlier this year to refresh the survey, and following consideration by the governance committee, your board recommends an upward review of directors' sitting allowances and annual fees to place directors' fees at the 60th percentile, in line with the bank's remuneration policy as follows: the chairperson's fees from GHS 228,894.08 cedis to GHS 354,445.40 cedis per year. Independent non-executive directors' fees from GHS 120,177.20 cedis to GHS 156,230.36 cedis per year. Sitting allowance, from GHS 5,462.60 cedis to GHS 10,144 cedis per sitting. I now move that the recommendation for the increase of non-executive directors' fees be, and is hereby, accepted. Will someone please second the motion? I'm chairperson. The name is Sampson Ashong, shareholder. I do second the motion. Thank you very much, Mr. Ashong. Motion has been seconded by Mr. Sampson Ashong. We will now take questions and comments on the remuneration of directors. There being no questions, I now put the motion to the meeting. Voting will now commence. Voting on this resolution is now closed. There were 19 votes to approve the remuneration of directors, 16 voted for, and 3 voted against. I declare that the motion for the acceptance of the increase of non-executive directors' fees has been duly carried. Remuneration of auditors. Section 142B of the Companies Act, 2019 requires that the auditors' remuneration shall be subject to confirmation by members of the company at a general meeting, or in such manner as the members at a general meeting may determine. I therefore move that the board of directors be authorized to fix the remuneration of the auditors. Will someone please second the motion? Thank you. My name is George. I second the motion. Thanks. Thank you very much, Mr. George. The motion has been seconded by Mr. George. I now put the motion to vote. Voting will now commence. Voting on this resolution is now closed. There were 23 votes to authorize the directors to fix the remuneration of the auditors, 22 voted against. 22 voted for, and 1 voted against. Pardon me. I now declare that the motion to authorize the board of directors to fix the remuneration of the auditors has been duly carried. Special business. I will now move on to the special business or special resolution for the day, the company's constitution. In 2019, a new Companies Act, 2019, Act 992, was promulgated to replace the existing Companies Code, 1963, Act 179. In addition to the act, other regulatory directives have since been issued, with the result that the bank's constitution needs to be reviewed and brought up to date. In order to ensure compliance with these laws and directives, there is a need for the bank to amend its constitution to ensure alignment with the Companies Act 2019, Act 992, as well as the Bank of Ghana Corporate Governance Directive 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission Corporate Governance Code for Listed Companies, 2020, the Ghana Stock Exchange Listing Rules, and other applicable laws and regulatory directives. Detailed explanatory notes setting out all proposed amendments to the constitution to align with applicable laws and directives have been shared or published on the bank's website. Approvals for the proposed amendments have been obtained from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Ghana Stock Exchange. I hereby move that the company's constitution be, and is hereby amended to align with the Bank of Ghana Corporate Governance Directive, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission Corporate Governance Code for Listed Companies, 2020, the Ghana Stock Exchange Listing Rules, the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992), and other applicable laws and regulatory directives. Will someone please second the motion? James Tay. The motion has been seconded by Mr. James Tay. Thank you, Mr. Tay. We will now take questions and comments on the amendments to the company's constitution. There are no questions online or in the house. I therefore now put the motion to the meeting. Voting will now commence. Voting on this resolution is now closed. There were 17 votes for the amendment of t he company constitution to align with the BoG, CGD, and SEC codes and GSE rules. All 17 votes were for the motion. I declare that the motion to amend the company's constitution to align with the Bank of Ghana Corporate Governance Directive, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission Corporate Governance Code for Listed Companies, 2020, the Ghana Stock Exchange Listing Rules and Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992), and other applicable laws and regulatory directives have been duly carried. Thank you very much. This concludes the business of putting motions to the votes, and concludes the business for the day. I, I thank you very much, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, for attending this meeting, which I now declare closed. May I ask Ms. Matilda Asante-Asiedu to please give us a closing prayer? Shall we pray? Father, in the name of Jesus, we've come to thank you, to bless you, and to give you glory. Your Word teaches us to give thanks in all things. Thank you, Lord, for seeing us through another wonderful annual general meeting. It means that you saw us through another great year. As we leave here, Lord, we do not leave your presence. We ask, oh God, that you continue to grant the management and staff of this great institution wisdom, so that we will continue to give value to our shareholders, to our customers, and to our community. We pray, Lord, that you order our steps, that you lead us to places of profit, so that at the end of another year, we shall gather once again to give you glory. Thank you, for we have asked in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. At Access Bank, greening Africa is part of our environmental sustainability mandates. For the third year running, we have supported the government's initiative to Green Ghana. This is testament to our commitment to be part of the solution to restore our landscape. Tree planting, however, is not only the sustainability drive the bank is embarking on. A Sandal More initiative, where we collect car tires to produce comfortable sandals for underprivileged children across the country, is also one of our sustainability drives. We owe it to the communities we operate, the duty of care in upholding the best sustainability standards. This is evident as part of our mission statement as a bank: to set standards for sustainable business practices, deliver superior values to our customers, and provide innovative solutions for the markets and communities we serve, and also engraved in our sustainability commitment to impact lives now and in the future. For the third year running, I am happy that we joined the Ministry of Lands and Resources again as we plant 10,000 seedlings across our communities in our effort to offset our carbon emissions. At the bank, we believe deeply in the power of collective action to drive environmental stewardship. Today, we are not just planting trees, we are investing in a greener, healthier future for our communities and generations to come. Let's embrace the opportunity to make a lasting impact, demonstrating our commitment to environmental sustainability and our dedication to preserving our planet. This is a call to you to support any and every initiative driving sustainability from Access Bank, such as the Sandal More for Better Tomorrow initiative, the Waste is Useful initiative, and the Push Against Wasteful Acts. Together, let's step into a greener tomorrow, impacting lives positively, now and in the future. At Access Bank, we do more than banking. We understand that the fate of our climate and the future of our people depend on the actions we take today. Our collective efforts will ensure a positive, transformative, and sustainable Ghana. We commend the ministry for this project, and we hope that everybody joins in this climate action to protect our planet for future generations.