The Acting Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), Mr Ekow Afedzi, has said that the recent challenges that hit the market is due to external factors and not how the bourse is being managed.

Mr Afedzi cites the effects of the banking sector reforms and current challenges with the economic environment as some of the external factors.

Speaking on the Business Edition of PM Express on the JoyNews channel, he said the current challenges the GSE was facing would soon be over.

“Markets do not go down forever,” he stated.

Market performance so far  

The GSE has lost about GH¢4.56 billion of capital since the beginning of the year due to the bearish performance of the market.

The market closed on Thursday with a total market capitalisation of GH¢56.95 billion and a year-to-date fall in the composite index (GSE-CI) of -12.27 per cent, after opening the year with a capitalisation of GH¢ 61.51 billion.

The GSE Composite index (GSE-CI) continue to decline having recorded a year to date drop of -12.27 per cent, and this included a -9.90 per cent year to date decline for the financial stocks index (GSE-FSI), as at Thursday, September 12, 2019. Volume traded ending June stood at 12 million, while value was 101 billion cedis. Listed companies as at June 2019 was 38 including firms on the Ghana Alternative Market (GAX).

Challenges with attracting more companies

The GSE is the principal stock exchange of Ghana.

The exchange was incorporated in July 1989 with trading commencing in 1990.  The market would be 29 years in November this year.

 It has about 38 companies including companies listed on Ghana Alternate. Some have raised questions about the number of listings since its inception. 

Mr Afedzi told the JoyBusiness edition of PM Express the bourse faces the challenge to bring on more companies because most of the companies do not want to open themselves up for scrutiny.

“Companies fear transparency,” he observed

Planned incentives

Ghana Stock Exchange boss also clarified a recent report that the GSE has lost GH¢4.6 billion.

He noted that the report should not be explained to mean that the market has lost that money but rather it is a decline in market capitalisation of the listed companies.

Mr Afedzi told JoyBusiness that he is confident of a market capitalisation will soon pick up strongly in the coming months because of some of the strategies that the listed companies are implementing.