A domestic bond market is required to help local businesses raise long-term and sustainable finance for growth and development, a former Dean of the KNUST Business School – Prof. Joseph Magnus Frimpong – has observed.
He said: “The establishment of domestic bond market has become a necessity for businesses to raise corporate bonds. Until then companies have to cope with sourcing finance from the money market and banks, which does not guarantee enough funds to fuel business activities in the fast-growing competitive environment”.
To create an enabling environment for such a market, Prof. Frimpong said government will have tackle macroeconomic slippages head-on.
“Government must look at tackling high interest rates and inflation in the country, if it wants to create a capital market and sustainable finance to boost industrialisation.”
He was speaking to B&FT on the sidelines of an investment seminar held at Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region.
The seminar was orgainsed by Global Investment Bankers Limited to school the investing public about the dynamics of investments – the risks, motive of growth, and security.
Prof. Frimpong said “Lack of knowledge has made many passive investors, instead of being active investors so as to reap the fruits of investment”.
Many people, he said, are not even aware that interest rates affect Treasury bonds.
The CEO of Public Sector Reforms, Rev. Thomas Kusi-Boafo – who is also a board member of Global Investment Bankers Limited – urged members of the public not to ignore investing toward their future with the excuse of being in an era of economic difficulties.
“Let’s not use difficult times as an excuse to forgo investments for the future. The difficult time is the period in life when you can’t work to earn income.”
On his part, the CEO of Global Investment Bankers Limited, Isaac Kwarteng-Dapaah Baido, pointed out that it has become prudent to provide intensified public education about the dynamics of investments in order to forestall dangers of the past, when people lost fortunes due to ignorance.
He urged players in the industry to complement government’s effort in sensitising the public to be well-informed about financial investment.
He said his outfit, in the next five years, seeks to entrench itself as an outstanding investment destination; not only for accepting funds, but also offering investment advisory in terms of acquisition and mergers as well as floating mutual funds.
