Ms. Abena Amoah, Deputy Managing Director (MD), Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), has iterated that there are Private Pensions Funds available for investments in GSE-Listed Equity and Debt securities which runs into billions.
As such, Ms Abena Amoah therefore, called on Specified Entities, including State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), to take advantage of such financing and investment opportunities to enhance their operations and make them economically viable.
Ms Amoah further urged Specified Entities to assess and raise Patient Long-term Capital by becoming issuers of equity or debt securities as a support mechanism for highly promising companies for their strategic growth.
“I am inviting SOEs to take advantage of this and the enhanced corporate governance practices that the GSE offers so that together, we can grow economically and build the country.”
Ms Abena Amoah
Ms Abena Amoah noted that as at the end of 2020, the National Pensions Regulatory Authority allowed the Private Pensions Funds to invest up to GH¢35 billion of their funds in Corporate Debt Securities listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange.
“Currently, there are 183 Specified Entities in Government’s records consisting of 51 State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), 43 Joint Venture Companies (JVC) and 89 Other State Entities (OSEs),” she stated.
The Deputy MD, moreover, stated that as SOEs plan to grow and do better, there is a need to strengthen effective collaboration with SIGA, the Ministry of Public Enterprises, and the Ministry of Finance to do internal reviews of companies’s needs, generate market readiness reports and fashion out a roadmap for companies that needed capital injection. She added that there is a pool of investments from Local Pensions Funds and Foreign Funds that could be accessed by Specified Entities, including SOEs.
Assets Under Management
Ms Amoah indicated, as of December 2021, the entire pensions sector had GH¢35billion of assets under management. Out of the amount, GH¢22billion was with private pensions companies and GH¢13billion with the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT). She noted that, those funds were looking for investment opportunities and that Specialised Entities could tap into that to strategically grow their operations.
Touching on how companies get listed on GSE, Ms Amoah explained that to list on the main market, the company must have existed for three years and must have made reasonable pre-tax profit or have the capacity to demonstrate to investors that it would become profitable.
On the Alternative Market, she intimated that, start-ups could list but required a business plan showing profits within three years and for the Fixed Income Market, three years with reasonable Pre-tax profit. She explained that one area that was of interest to investors is a company’s corporate governance practices and said such companies must demonstrate capacity. She added that on the main Market Board, the company must be fit and proper with a composition to include 50 per cent non-Executive and 25 per cent Independent Directors.
The Minimum Stated Capital for listing on the GSE, she said, was GH¢1million and for Alternative Market the minimum capital requirement was GH¢250,000 while the Fixed Income Market required a minimum of GH¢500,000 or could be waived.
Ms Abena stated that one of the ways of raising capital was an Initial Public Offering (IPO), which among other requirements, involved six steps including; the composition and appointment of a Transactional Advisory Team, processing of roadmap and timetable for offering and listing, book building, finalising transaction pricing, investor appetite and key approvals.
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