President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday paid a working visit to the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) in Accra.
The visit, according to Akufo-Addo, was to afford him the opportunity to ascertain how the GSE and the BoG have been impacted by the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic and to find out how best he can support especially the GSE.
The President told the workers of the GSE that “All of us are aware that a robust and strong stock exchange is usually a very good mirror and reflection of a strong market economy. So whatever can be done to strengthen the exchange is inevitably tied up to what we can do to strengthen the economy.”
He added “we have in the last four or five months gone through some very harrowing times not just here in Ghana but the entire world.
“It has had a major impact on the economies of virtually all the nations in the world. The stock exchange is one of the critical instruments for growing a country’s economy and thereby growing the possibility of the people becoming more prosperous. I think it is important that those of us who have to make decisions affecting the economy have a clear idea of what is going on here.
“That is the main reason I came here to find out the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on your activities, where you are in terms of growing the exchange and what obviously government on kits part can do to assist the process of getting Ghana a really stock exchange.”
The Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) Ekow Afedzie told the president that his visit makes it the first time a sitting president has familiarized himself with the operations at 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 am 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 afterwards in the last decade as the most innovative stock exchange in Africa, an ward normally given by African Investor.”
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta for his part, recalled the introduction of the stock exchange and his working relations with them dating back to 1994 and was hopeful the future of the GSE to achieve its objectives will be fertile.
The Ghana Stock Exchange was established in July 1989 as a private company and given recognition as an authorized Stock Exchange under the Stock Exchange Act of 1971 (Act 384) in October 1990.
The Council of the Exchange was inaugurated on November 12, 1990 and trading commenced on its floor the same day. The Exchange, changed its status to a public company limited by guarantee in April 1994.
By:Isaac Clottey
