Capital market: African players urged to embrace integration
Players in the financial space have emphasized the need for an integrated capital market in the African sub region.
According to them such integration will support a robust and uniform economic renaissance on the continent, along with the transition to a broader, more diversified, sustainable, and digitalized economy.
One of the characteristics of the fast-evolving world is the driver of a globalized economy which offers a diversified avenue where portfolio investment and short-term investment are strengthened.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Capacity building and Sensitization workshop for the phase two of the West African Capital Market Integration, the Director General of the West African Monetary Institute highlighted how an integrated capital market will boost the gross domestic product of the continent.
“If you look at the GDP of West Africa is about USD777 billion and by the time we integrate this capital market it will increase the GDP to over USD 800 billion and that will be a boost to Africa in terms of provision of liquidity, employment and IT infrastructure,” he said.
The Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission allayed fears that the integration may erode Ghana’s market benefits: “We shouldn’t be worried that the Integration is going to cause problems rather it will open up to better opportunities to deepen our market and the Securities and Exchange Commission is implementing several initiatives that we are building capacity.”
The Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange assured of making the Ghanaian market more competitive to attract more investors.
“The Ghana market is one of the significant markets in Africa. Our equity market has a capitalization of about GHS 65 billion and we are looking to double that, move from the 40 listed companies that we have to about 100 and by joining other markets in Africa we can leverage by learning from each other,” she said.
Source: Ghana Business
