Gifty Asantewah Annor, a financial analyst and the CEO of African Financial Traders Organization, has called on the government of Ghana to quickly start regulating the Forex Industry in the country to raise revenue for its development needs; A move which she said will also help to stabilize the Cedi.

According to the analyst, while forex trading has gained quite a foothold in the country, it still remains unregulated. Meaning that those who choose to trade in forex online, cannot do so in the Ghanaian currency.

“Currently, there are no domestic trading platforms, hence the government is loosing out on revenue and GDP is skewed, as these activities by retail traders are not covered.

“As Ghana has not yet put in place the regulatory framework, all those residing in the country electing to trade, have thus far done so with companies that service the UK and European market.”
Gifty Annor Asantewah

Opportunities in Forex Trading

Gifty Asantewah Annor, in her interaction with the Vaultz News, noted that Forex trading presents an enormous employment career and financial opportunities. She noted that Forex trading is gaining huge momentum among the youths and currently, Ghanaians are beginning to appreciate it, so, they are venturing into it in the country. This, she indicated, will lead to increase in revenue and appreciation of the cedis.

“As the country has already missed out a big deal with its late adaption and exploration of the sector…, the cedi will be in a better position to compete on the currency market as traders would demand more of it for their trading transactions when there are domestic platforms, that allows for trading to be done in the local currency.”
Gifty Annor Asantewah

The CEO of African Financial Traders Organization averred that it would be impossible to overlook the tax implications of regulating the Forex industry within Ghana.

“Regulatory practices would mean that those profiting from their trades would be required to part with their pound of flesh. In other words, traders trading legitimately would be required to submit income tax.”
Gifty Annor Asantewah

It can be recalled that earlier in the year, the Bank of Ghana has together a docket to steer the future of Forex Trading in Ghana. However, nothing has been heard about it since then. The idea is to give the companies and/or enterprises which provide such services the required licenses. Reacting to the move by the Bank of Ghana, Annor Asantewah stated that “hopefully this comes in sooner and not later.”

Citing how other jurisdictions regulate their Forex market, she stated that the companies have a unique number that is used to trace them.

“For instance, European traders can make use of the Firm Registration Number (FRN) – something all regulated trading companies must have in the footer of their websites. This number can then be submitted to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to confirm its legitimacy.”
Gifty Annor Asantewah

Potential Problems faced by Traders

Touching on some of the challenges that potential traders may face, the CEO indicated that “the only problem faced by would-be traders would be scamming websites.” Nonetheless, Asantewah urged potential traders to be vigilant.

“When it comes to possibly profiting from the online environment, it’s vitally important to practice vigilance, as scamming is not an exclusive endeavour. Just as legitimate banks issue warnings to their customers on a regular basis about what to be aware of when encountering a possible scam online, there are certain key things to look out for when signing up with regulated online trading platforms.”
Gifty Annor Asantewah

She concluded that for this and a number of other reasons, regulation is key to the future of Forex trading in Ghana. However, she noted that the stock exchange in Ghana is limited to shares, stocks and bonds and this limitation has impacted negatively on the Ghanaian economy and its currency.