The Ghana Stock Exchange has scored another success in its quest to be relevant in the international capital markets arena.
In October 2020, the Managing Director of Ghana Stock Exchange, Ekow Afedzie was appointed Co-Chair of the Africa Regional Committee of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) with sole responsibility over the West African sub-committee.
The appointment was formalised with the introduction of Ekow Afedzie to members of the prestigious Committee of Regional Representatives (CRR) at its meeting on December 10, 2020.
The Exchange became a full member of the International Capital Market Association in January 2020, joining the Bank of Ghana and Central Securities Depository to bring ICMA membership in Ghana to three.
Membership of the ICMA West Africa Sub-Committee include the Ghana Stock Exchange, Bank of Ghana, Central Securities Depository, FMDQ Holdings Plc.-Nigeria, African Export Import Bank, African Finance Corporation-Nigeria, Front Clear and a secretariat provided by ICMA. FMDQ Holdings of Nigeria was appointed Vice-Chair of the committee.
Commenting on the appointment, Ekow Afedzie, Managing Director of GSE said: “This appointment is significant and marks the maturity of Ghana’s Bond market – the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM). He noted that within the few years of its establishment, the GFIM has been ranked fourth in size for issued sovereign debt in sub-Saharan Africa by Bloomberg. Being a member of ICMA will enable the GFIM to tap into the association’s rich resources to continually improve performance and its relevance in Ghana, Africa and the world at large”.
Martin Scheck, Chief Executive of ICMA, also noted: “We are delighted to welcome Ekow Afedzie as Co-Chair of the Africa Committee. This is one of our fastest growing regions where there is enormous potential for capital markets to deliver economic growth to benefit all their citizens, and I look forward to working with him as we take forward the excellent work of this committee”.
