Managing Director of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB), Edward Ato Sarpong, has disclosed that his decision to accept the top job at the bank was driven by confidence in leadership rather than expertise in banking.
Addressing board members, executives, managers and selected officers at the Jospong Leadership Conference 2026, Ato Sarpong said he initially resisted the appointment because he had never worked in a banking environment.
“I said I cannot run a bank because I’ve never been in banking before,” he said, recalling conversations that took place before his appointment in February 2025.
According to him, a late-night meeting with a retired banker helped change his perspective.
The veteran banker, who had spent close to four decades in the sector, told him that leadership mattered more than technical background.
“Even me, I don’t know half of what you know,” Mr Ato Sarpong quoted the banker as telling him.
That encounter, he said, convinced him to accept the role after further discussions with the Finance Minister and officials at the Presidency.
Ato Sarpong said when he officially assumed office, ADB was in severe financial distress, with high operating costs, weak capital position and a large stock of non-performing loans.
“I inherited a bank with a cost-to-income ratio of 98 percent,” he said.
“MPLs were in excess of 70 percent,” Ato Sarpong, who is a chartered accountant noted.
He told the conference that his strategy was to focus strictly on leadership, set clear priorities and demand accountability, rather than attempt to personally master banking operations.
“All I knew is that I could lead,” he said.
Ato Sarpong said within 11 months, the bank’s cost-to-income ratio had dropped significantly, while its capital adequacy position had improved from negative to positive territory.
“We have moved the cost-to-income ratio from 98 percent to 57 percent,” he said.
“Our capital adequacy ratio was negative 3.17 percent. We are currently 17.5 percent.”
He attributed the improvement to long working hours, personal involvement in cost controls and renegotiation of contracts, as well as a strong focus on changing internal culture.
“I’ve been working 13, 14 hours a day,” he said.
Mr Ato Sarpong also pushed back against criticisms of micromanagement, describing hands-on leadership as necessary in times of crisis.
“It is not micromanagement,” he said. “It is ensuring that you build your people up.”
He argued that leadership is best transferred through example, especially in complex organisations.
“If you want to lead tomorrow, take this issue of micromanagement out of your mind,” he told participants.
Mr Ato Sarpong urged young professionals to focus on discipline, diligence and clarity of purpose, saying leadership is earned through results, not titles.
“Leadership is conferred based on the task accomplished,” he said.
