The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) held its 32nd annual general meeting posting impressive results amid the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that continued to slow down the rebound of most economies including Ghana in 2021.
The meeting is held every year to update its licensed dealing members, associate members, and other stakeholders on the performance of the Exchange and the way forward.
Despite 2021 being another challenging year, the exchange showed resilience by recording a solid financial performance with a surplus of GH¢31.13million representing an increase of 32pct over the same period last year and the highest in the history of the local bourse.
Addressing the gathering, the Chairman of the GSE Council, Mrs. Abena Osei-Poku said: “The year 2021 showed signs of recovery following the easing of restrictions on the economy with the slowdown of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Despite the slow recovery of the economy, the equities market GSE Composite Index, which measures the performance of the entire market, recovered from the negative trends in 2020 to end the year strongly with a positive 43.66pct compared to the negative 13.98pct recorded at the end of 2020.
Market capitalization for all listed securities at the end of 2021 was GHS64.50 billion, which represents an 18.63% increase compared to GH¢54.37 billion in 2020. This performance earned the GSE the tag of being the second-best performing market in Africa.
During the meeting, it was highlighted that GSE continued to embark on strategic partnerships by implementing some memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with some exchanges among other things to share best practices.
The exchange launched an intensive prospection exercise with some private firms and government agencies to attract more listings, including also signing partnerships with some business associations to groom and prepare them for listing.
Youth investment education programs were rolled out in collaboration with the Young Investor Network to take investment education to our universities and senior high schools.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of the GSE, Mr. Ekow Afedzie said: “The Exchange recorded a remarkable performance amid the challenges occasioned by the post-COVID19 pandemic effects which slowed down economic activities in the economy.
The bond market had its best performing year since its inception, recording a total volume trade of 208.81 billion, which is a 92.62pct increase from the 108.41billion traded in 2020.”
He added that the Exchange is very much committed to playing its critical role in the economy by creating the platform for the mobilisation of long-term capital and investments.
“GSE will continue to implement its three-year strategic plan to transform from a frontier market to an emerging market; demutualized entity operating at optimal capacity with an innovative and competitive orientation; and become the preferred platform for financing and investment for both public and private sectors.
All of these are aimed at creating a vibrant Exchange to support its mission of providing an efficient securities market in support of national economic development,” he said.
