Kwame Pianim urges young people to invest in financial markets

Economist, Kwame Pianim is encouraging young people to educate themselves on investment opportunities available in the financial markets and take advantage of them.

His recommendation came on the back of remarks by a senior lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Dr Elikplimi Agbloyor on young people and investment opportunities at the recently held Investment Dialogue organised by Tesah Capital in Accra.

“Investments are good,” Kwame Pianim said, contributing to the dialogue via zoom. “When I was young a lot of household savings were in savings. Later on, in the ‘70s and ‘80s they [fund managers] started moving into treasury bills. Now you will be surprised to know how many people are investing in equity.”

The Economist suggested alternatively, young people can seek to invest in equity by banding with friends.

“For the young people I will tell you, from my own experience, you may not have money to invest in a house. You may not have money to be able to invest in equities [alone] but groups of you, friends can come together to buy stocks.”

The financial consultant explained that if a person is earning GH¢600 per month, that person can put aside GH¢60 every month in equity.

“Put it away on equities; forget about it and let it grow,” he stressed.

Mr. Pianim also recommended that fund managers should engage with upcoming Fintech companies in the country to encourage them to enlist in the stock exchange and additionally encourage the public, including young people to invest in them.

He also noted that young people investing in stocks and equity funds in turn can help create jobs in manufacturing and agro-processing sectors.

However, he acknowledged that for young people to have confidence in financial markets, regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission need to enforce rules and laws so that young investors can confidently invest their hard-earned money in the markets to help the economy.