Ms Abena Amoah, the new Director General of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) has bemoaned the low listings of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on the Ghana Alternative Market (GAX), noting MSMEs listing on GAX critical to funding growth ambitions.
According to the Managing Director of GSE, the GAX was established in recognition of the importance of MSMEs to the country’s economy and the GAX’s main purpose is to provide a platform for MSMEs to raise long-term growth capital from investors.
Ms Abena Amoah noted that Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are attracted by the prospects and opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA)and thus, urged them to list on the Ghana Alternative Market (GAX), as it provides them a conduit to fund their growth ambitions in Africa.
Ms Abena Amoah asserted that in light of the current economic challenges, especially with high interest rates, equity becomes a more suitable way to fund the recovery, resilience and growth of MSMEs’ in the country.
According to the Managing Director, listing on the Exchange makes it easier for MSMEs to pass due diligence when doing business in other markets, “offering a badge of credibility to all potential partners, suppliers or customers of the MSME or SME”.
Currently, there are only six companies listed on the GSE’s established MSME market, GAX- a figure many players in the sector describe as woefully inadequate at a time the country is ramping up efforts to be a major player in the continental free trade area.
Reversing the Trend and Encouraging MSMEs
To reverse the trend and encourage MSMEs to take advantage of opportunities provided by the Exchange, the GSE has been holding continuous market development and awareness seminars for MSMEs.
“Under various partnership agreements, we also provide training and market-readiness assessments for identified SMEs. The GSE has signed strategic MoUs with the Association of Ghana Industries, Development Bank of Ghana and the Stanford Seed Transformation Network (STN) Ghana. These partnerships allow the GSE to reach SMEs that are members of these groups. The Exchange is open to building more of such partnerships in order to broaden our reach to SMEs in Ghana.”
Ms Abena Amoah
The Managing Director of the Exchange iterated that the MSME sector is the solution to sustainability of the economy. With over 90 percent of businesses in the country being SMEs and contributing collectively at least 70 percent of the GDP, Ms. Amoah called for the institution of deliberate measures to support growth of the sector.
“SMEs are the backbone, the foundation and true engine of growth for the Ghanaian economy…and Ghana will not grow without SMEs growing strongly.”
Ms Abena Amoah
The Managing Director of the GSE made this known while speaking at a capacity building workshop for SMEs organised by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in partnership with the Exchange and Development Bank of Ghana (DBG), under the theme ‘Empowering SMEs with key strategies for resilience and business sustainability’.
“It is against this background that the GSE and DBG want to move beyond the rhetoric and work with your association, AGI, to prepare local businesses through capacity-building programmes to raise the much-needed patient and affordable capital to catapult and accelerate their growth and that of the economy.”
Ms Abena Amoah
READ ALSO: Africans Should Aim For A Take-off To Rapid Growth- Mahama
