The government has been urged to consider instituting policies to attract Ghanaian companies to list on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
The move according to Mr Ekow Afedzie, Managing Director, GSE would enable the companies to raise long-term capital to expand their businesses.
He made the call in Accra on Tuesday when the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo paid a visit to the floor of the GSE.
Incentives
Mr Afedzie said “we tried tax incentives before, for a while, maybe we can try again to see if it will attract Ghanaian companies to get on board.”
The President’s visit was to afford him the opportunity to ascertain the impact of the COVID-19 on the GSE and to find out how best the government can support.
Mr Afedzie said getting Ghanaian companies to list on GSE was very important in making the GSE become relevant in the development of the country.
The President’s visit he said made it the first time a sitting president has familiarised himself with the operations of the GSE.
He said, “This is the first time we have a sitting president coming to the floor to witness what goes on here, so you are welcome. GSE will be 30 years this year. As an exchange we made some modest achievements, we have created trade markets, we have only 40 companies listed on the main market.”
He added “All operations are electronic, we have won two awards in the last decade as the most innovative stock exchange in Africa, an award normally given by African Investor.”
Impact of COVID-19
On the impact of the pandemic on the GSE Mr Afedzie said “the COVID-19 pandemic did not impact so much on the performance of the exchange.”
He said the market had done very well with some GH¢59 billion worth of bonds traded by the end of July this year.
Mr Afedzie said the GSE would make the objective of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the London Stock Exchange to become an emerging market.
Mou with LSEG
The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) last year signed a MoU with the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) to strengthen their common interest in collaborating to support the development of the capital market in Ghana.
As part of this MoU, LSEG will assist the GSE to take steps to move from a frontier market to an emerging market, support cross-listing between the LSE and GSE and raise awareness of capital raising opportunities.
GSE and AfCFTA
President Akufo-Addo urged the GSE to take advantage of Ghana’s position as host of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to expand its activities.
According to him, the AfCFTA had the potential of becoming a major transformative initiative for the continent and indicated that Ghana has a dynamic contribution to its proper functioning and success.
He said the GSE also has a critical role and should leverage its reputation as one of the best performing and innovative financial markets and rise to the challenge ahead.
BY DAVID ADADEVOH