Trading activity on the Ghana Stock Exchange in 2024 was vibrant, underscored by heightened investor interest and liquidity.

According to the 2024 Financial Stability Review, this reflected in 992 million shares changing hands with an annual trade value of GH₵2.15 billion in 2024.

This is relative to 579.67 million shares traded at a total value of GH₵818.2 million in 2023.

According to the report, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector continued to play a pivotal role, contributing significantly to both trade volumes and values, while the financial sector and exchange-traded funds also made important contributions to overall market turnover.

The market’s growth extended beyond trading figures to market capitalization.

The year ended with a better-than-expected market capitalization of GH₵111 billion, reflecting an impressive 50% year-on-year growth from GH₵74 billion at the close of 2023. This surge in market capitalization was fuelled by the sustained rally in share prices and the listing of Atlantic Lithium and CAL Bank preference shares, which deepened market participation and diversity.

At the close of the year, there were 34 counters on the main list of the exchange and five counters on the Ghana Alternative Market (GAX) of the GSE.

GSE Emerged as Top-Performing Market in Africa

Meanwhile, the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) emerged as the top-performing market in Africa in 2024. The report said the market started the year on an upswing, evidenced by the impressive gain of 326 points in the Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index (GSE-CI) to end the first quarter with a return of 12.0%.

The strong upward momentum continued throughout the year, with the market recording an annual return of 56.2% compared with an annual return of 25.2% in 2023.

The 2024 return marked the highest annual return for the benchmark index since 2013.

The Ghana Stock Exchange Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FSI) also delivered an impressive performance, climbing by 479.22 points to close the year at a level of 2,380.8 points, representing an annual return of 25.2%.