Companies encouraged to use stock market

Mrs Joyce Esi Boakye, Manager, Listing, of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GAX), has encouraged Ghanaian businesses to list on the stock market as another avenue of boosting their capital base.

She explained that listing of companies on the stock market offer a comparative advantage to businesses that may be denied loan facilities from the banks.

Mrs Boakye told the Ghana News Agency during a Business Luncheon with the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in Takoradi in the Western Region that the stock market is an avenue for long term capital building.

“We are therefore creating the awareness and showing businesses the ways to expand their businesses,” she said.

She noted that as lack capital continues to be a big issue to entrepreneurs; “they are not able to expand as well as retool”.

Mr Andy Koney, Chairman of the Western and Central Branch of AGI expressed gratitude about the introduction of Ghana Alternative Market (GAM), which offers small and medium enterprises (SMEs) an opportunity to list on the stock Exchange to attract capital for expansion through the public.

He recounted the success story of Samba Foods Limited, an indigenous company, which has been able to raise GH? 2.5 million shares after floating a little over three million shares from February to March.

Mr Koney said: “The story of the struggles for SME’s to raise capital for businesses will be re-written if they take advantage of the GAX to expand and improve their production capabilities.”