The Financial Stock Index also recorded a 6.14% return for investors.

According to the monthly report from the GSE, the number of transactions rose to 38,477, marking a 406.74% increase compared to the same period last year.

There were six top gainers for the month. They included CalBank PLC (15.71%) GCB Bank (1.36%), Enterprise Ghana PLC (0.28%). Ecobank Ghana PLC (0.14%), Benso Oil Palm Plantation PLC (0.06%) and Standard Chartered Bank Ghana PLC (0.03%).

On the losing side were TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana PLC (-0.12) Societe Generale Ghana PLC (-4.46%) and New Gold (-5.67%).

On the Fixed Income Market, the total traded volume increased to 36.91 billion, marking a 118.45% rise compared to the 16.89 billion traded during the corresponding period last year.

Treasury Bills accounted for 37.75% of volume traded, whilst the Government Bonds contributed 60.91% with Corporate Bonds making up the remaining 1.34%.

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The move marks the first equities market IPO on the GSE since 2018, signaling renewed confidence in Ghana’s capital market and boosting expectations of increased activity on the Exchange.

GSE Managing Director, Abena Amoah, described the development as a major milestone, noting that it reinforces the Exchange’s role in helping institutions raise long-term capital for growth. “We are pleased to welcome First Atlantic Bank on its journey towards listing. This important step underscores growing confidence in our market,” she said.

The Exchange encouraged more companies to consider the capital market as a viable avenue for both short- and long-term financing.

First Atlantic Bank’s proposed listing is expected to deepen market activity and offer new opportunities to investors.

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This is compared to 15 gainers in April 2025.

SIC Insurance Company emerged as the biggest gainer with a 44.29% increase, followed by Access Bank PLC (22.04%) and Ecobank Ghana (13.41%).

Other top gainers included GCB Bank PLC (8.51%), Fan Milk PLC (7.89%), Enterprise Group PLC (7.14%), Unilever Ghana PLC (4.91%), Benso Palm Plantation PLC (4.61%), Guinness Ghana Breweries PLC (4.31%), Ghana Oil Company PLC (2.27%), Société Générale Ghana PLC (2.27%), TotalEnergies Marketing Ghana PLC (1.67%) and Ecobank Transnational Inc. (1.14%).

On the losing side were NewGold (-22.11%), CalBank PLC (-10.77%) and Scancom PLC (-1.32%).

The GSE Composite Index gained 0.90% in May 2025 to close the month at 6,150.31 points, bringing its year-to-date gain to 25.81%. The GSE Financial Stock Index also recorded a 3.37% increase, resulting in a year-to-date gain of 35.13%.

Debt Market

Meanwhile, the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM) closed the month with a total traded volume of 19.07 billion, representing an 83.56% increase compared to the 10.39 billion recorded during the same period last year.

Treasury bills accounted for 49.38% of volumes traded, while government bonds contributed 44.06%. Bank of Ghana bills accounted for 5.66%, and corporate bonds made up the remaining 0.89%.

The market experienced a slowdown in equity trading activity in May, with a total of 34,534,543 shares traded, amounting to GHS186,648,515.64 in value. This represents an 86.50% decrease in volume and a 52.88% decline in value compared to the same period last year.

Nonetheless, the number of reported transactions rose from 14,053 in April to 20,118 in May.

This follows an announcement on September 16, 2024, to buy back all the outstanding bonds under ESLA PLC Tranche E2, E3, E4 and E5 held by non-sovereign bondholders.

ESLA PLC subsequently announced on September 30, 2024, the extension of the buyback offer period, with a new offer close date of October 14, 2024.

A circular from the Ghana Stock Exchange stated that ESLA PLC encourages the remaining non-sovereign bondholders to tender their bonds promptly.

It will exercise all options available to settle all remaining non-sovereign bondholders immediately after the buyback offer closes.

The bonds will be repurchased at par using proceeds held in the lockbox account.

Settlement is however scheduled for October 30, 2024.

Source: Joy Business

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Treasury Bills accounted for 64.28% of volumes traded, whilst the government bonds contributed 34.08%, with corporate bonds making up the remaining 1.64%.

Year-to-date trading volume reached103.24 billion, marking a 99.47% increase over the 51.76 billion traded in the corresponding period last year.

GGBL, 4 others are top gainers

On the equities Market, the GSE Composite Index saw a 2.98% drop in August 2024 closing at 4,359.85 points, reducing the year-to-date gain to 39.28%.

The GSE Financial Stock Index increased by 0.77%, increasing its year-to-date gain to 11.38%.

The top price gainers for the month were GGBL (9.79%), Camelot (9.09%), BOPP (8.70%), Unilever (8.33%) and Enterprise Ghana Limited (6.45%).

On the other hand, MTN Ghana and CalBank lost 5.98% and 8.82% respectively.

On a while, a total volume of 652,798,625 shares valued at GH¢1,285,702,743.41 has traded so far this year, marking an 83.91% increase in volume and a 170.94% rise in value compared to the corresponding period last year.

While non-financial stocks have predominantly driven the rally in the stock market, the financial sector has shown a strong recovery, with most banks joining the rally following good quarter-one 2024 financial results.

According to Databank Research, the Ghanaian economy is benefitting from a successful International Monetary Fund programme,  thus maintaining stability, and fostering a positive earnings growth outlook across various sectors. This stability is expected to bolster investor confidence in equities.

In the first half of 2024, the GSE-Composite Index performed better than expected, surpassing its initial forecast of 3,756 points and currently stands at 4,490.80 points (43.47% Year-to-Date).

“From a technical analysis standpoint, we expect the GSE-CI to close at 4,380 points, reflecting 40% (±500 basis points). We remain cautious of potential profit-taking and some volatility as elections draw nearer. Below are our sector-specific opinions”, it said.

Robust earnings recovery to stimulate demand for banking stocks

Similarly, robust earnings recovery in the banking sector will stimulate demand for banking stocks.

In hindsight, the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme anticipates the banking sector will continue to benefit from the favourable yields on short-term treasury securities in a bid to preserve capital.

At the close of quarter one 2024, the sector posted a significant earnings recovery with a notable 53% year-on-year growth in net profits, largely fueled by a 31% year-on-year growth in interest income piggybacking on a 42% increase in investment securities.

BOPP to lead non-banking stocks gains

Again, analysts believe the non-banking sector would remain strong largely due to the ongoing recovery in consumer demand coupled with a positive turnaround in profitability Benso Oil Palm Plantation’s (BOPP) generous dividend policy has revived positive traction in the stock, flunking it to trade at its all-time high of GH¢23 per share.

This reflects investor confidence in BOPP’s performance and its growth potential.

Despite the current gains, Databank believes BOPP still has a significant upside in the agribusiness stock, with occasional periods of profit-taking-driven pullbacks.

The Ghana Stock Exchange experienced remarkable growth in the first half of 2024, continuing the positive trend that began at the start of the year.

The Composite Index (GSE CI) gained 373.41 points in the second quarter of 2024 to close at 3,829.61 points, marking a Year-To-Date return of 22.34%.

Source: Joy Business

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According to the Summary of May 2024 Market Activities, the top price gainers for the month were New Gold (12.61%), GCB Bank (8.06%), MTN Ghana (2.86%),  and TotalEnergies (1.58%).

The GSE Composite Index gained 1.81% in May to record a new all-time high of 3,753.69 points, bringing its year-to-date gain to 19.92%.

The GSE Financial Stock Index also recorded a 0.41% increase, resulting in a year-to-date gain of 7.95%.

Following its listing in May 2024, Atlantic Lithium added GH¢2.85 billion to increase the value of all stocks listed on the markets to GH¢84.02 billion by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, the GSE’s Fixed Income Market saw traded volumes of 10.39 billion during May 2024, doubling the volume traded in May 2023.

Treasury Bills accounted for 74.53% of volumes traded, whilst Government Bonds contributed 24.70%, with Corporate Bonds making up the remaining 0.77%.

The value of all securities on the market stood at GH¢328 billion at the end of the month.

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This follows a court injunction by a minority shareholder.

In a statement to the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE,) the bank said it has reminded its shareholders of the notice of an order of injunction filed by a minority shareholder (“Injunction Application”) regarding CalBank’s GH¢600 million rights issue (“Capital Raise”).

“Considering the above, CalBank has temporarily suspended the remaining processes for completion of the Capital Raise, notably the allotment of shares”, it said.

“There will be court hearings and filings regarding the Injunction Application, commencing middle of May 2024 after which the court will decide to grant or deny the application”, it stressed.

The bank furthered that it will provide an update following the decision of the court.

“CalBank understands the constraint to shareholders brought on by this Injunction Application and continues to actively engage the Securities and Exchange Commission and all its other regulators to resolve the matter as soon as practicable”, it concluded.

I am convinced that now is the critical moment to scrutinize the supply chain and ECG’s unilateral distribution of electricity in certain regions of Ghana. Addressing ECG’s challenges in revenue collection from the public and its commercial losses should be a top priority for ECG and all involved stakeholders.

It is quite worrying to learn that an increase in electricity prices led to a decrease in ECG’s revenue. This outcome does not come as a surprise. Like the effects observed in the taxation Laffer curve, the combination of raised electricity prices and the proposed 15% VAT on electricity charges will likely exacerbate ECG’s financial difficulties.

While revenue collection remains a significant issue for ECG, it is worth considering the introduction of competition in power distribution to the consumer. There is a widespread belief, backed by evidence, that competition fosters efficiency. This is evident in the British electricity market. Under the regulation of the electricity spot market, efficiency was obtained in the production and distribution of electricity due to competition (Green & Newbery 1992; Newbery, 1998). Should PURC function as mandated, this is achievable.

Given ECG’s critical role, the notion of it failing is not an option. However, it is time to contemplate dividing ECG into smaller, more manageable entities and privatizing their operations. By listing approximately 60% of these entities on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), there could be an enhancement in managerial efficiency and an improvement in their financial health. These smaller companies would then be able to concentrate on enhancing collection efforts and reducing distribution losses.

Credit: Nii Darko Asante

A summary of Nii Darko Asante’s articles

Background and Problem:

The power sector payment gap in Ghana primarily results from the inability of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) to collect sufficient customer revenue to pay their electricity suppliers​​. This shortfall has led to unpaid bills and a growing debt burden, adversely affecting the ability of generation companies to pay for fuel and GRIDCo to pay its regulatory fees​​. ECG, as Ghana’s largest distribution company, contributes significantly to this payment gap. It often paid itself full of collected revenues before distributing any remaining funds to its suppliers, exacerbating the sector’s liquidity challenges​​.

Cash Waterfall Mechanism (CWM) Introduction and Development:

The CWM was introduced to address the payment inequity and liquidity issues in Ghana’s energy sector. Its development spanned five years, focusing on simplifying implementation by moving away from securitization towards voluntary compliance​​. The CWM aimed to ensure equitable payment allocation based on the prevailing PURC tariff, despite challenges in understanding these tariffs​​. A key principle of the CWM was to make payments directly to ultimate beneficiaries, rather than through ECG’s contractual counterparties, to increase liquidity across the value chain​​.

Implementation and Outcomes:

In its first two years, the CWM improved equity and predictability in payment cycles. However, it didn’t resolve the overall payment gap, as a significant portion of the required revenue remained unpaid, leading to substantial debt accumulation​​. ECG, unable to retain as much revenue as before, became hostile to the CWM. This hostility, along with other challenges, led to the mechanism’s virtual collapse after two years​​.

Issues like delays in disbursement by ECG and a significant drop in declared revenue for allocation further weakened the CWM​​. Additionally, a ransomware attack on ECG in September 2022 severely impacted revenue collection, leading to ECG’s non-compliance with the CWM​​.

Revised CWM and Continuing Challenges:

In 2023, discussions to restore the CWM led to a revised payment structure. Despite this, ECG did not fully comply with the new formula, impacting the payments to other beneficiaries in the value chain​​. The situation was exacerbated by declining revenue collections declared by ECG and continued non-compliance with the CWM, indicating ongoing challenges in managing the sector’s payment gap and debt​​.

Overall, the document highlights the complex challenges in Ghana’s power sector, particularly around revenue collection, debt management, and the effective implementation of mechanisms like the CWM to address these issues. Despite efforts to improve the situation, problems such as revenue shortfalls, inequitable distribution, and non-compliance persist, affecting the stability and financial health of the energy sector.

Reference:

Asante, N. D. (2023, December 13). The cash waterfall mechanism (CWM): Part 2: First two years of CWM. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cash-waterfall-mechanism-cwm-nii-darko-asante-fwule/?trackingId=z5zyheEbT2ucNmoGL8q8oA%3D%3D.

Asante, N. D. (2023, November 20). The cash waterfall mechanism (CWM): Part 1: The Power Sector Payment Gap – Genesis of the CWM. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cash-waterfall-mechanism-cwm-nii-darko-asante-n3gwe/?trackingId=z5zyheEbT2ucNmoGL8q8oA%3D%3D.

Asante, N. D. (2024, January 23). The cash waterfall mechanism: Part 3: Challenges, Death & Resurrection.LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cash-waterfall-mechanism-nii-darko-asante-skqte/?trackingId=CkqyZzhhQlysryfE6mwymQ%3D%3D.

Green, R. J., & Newbery, D. M. (1992). Competition in the British electricity spot market. Journal of Political Economy, 100(5), 929-953. https://doi.org/10.1086/261846.

Newbery, D. M. (1998). Competition, contracts, and entry in the electricity spot market. The RAND Journal of Economics, 29(4), 726. https://doi.org/10.2307/2556091.

The fund grew assets by a whopping 87.4% from 2021 figures which stood at Ghs 1.7 billion.

People with knowledge of the fund’s intimate workings say with Lithium and Salt investments penned for 2023, the US$500 million mark or at least GHs 5 billion is very much within view.

MIIF’s performance update has been achieved on the back of innovative strategies which led to growth in royalties’ income, expansion of sources of royalties and investment income. 

Growth focused Investments

In March 2022, MIIF acquired a US$20 stake in Asante Gold Corporation a Canadian and German-listed company with assets in Bibiani, Chirano, and Kubi.

MIIF subscribed to 14,514,286 ordinary shares, representing 4.62% of the entity at the time.

The future-focused investment fund said at the time of the acquisition that it saw “significant upsides to the Asante asset and was confident the company which has all its assets domiciled in Ghana would do very well”.

MIIF has also closed a GH¢25 million deal in a Ghana/Africa SME-focused Fund. MIIF recently announced at the 2023 Mining Indaba in South Africa that it intended to invest US$60 million in Lithium and Salt with the beneficiary companies being Atlantic Lithium and Electrochem limited, a wholly-owned Ghanaian company that is aiming to become Africa’s biggest Salt producer.

Another area of investment for 2023 is the small-scale mining incubation support program where MIIF told audiences at the South African Mining Indaba in Cape Town that it was planning to invest another US$ 60 million to formalize small-scale mining, help with traceability mechanisms for the gold produced by small-scale miners under the program and ultimately list beneficiary mining firms on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).

MIIF is also developing a gold-backed Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) with the support of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) for trading on the Ghanaian Bourse and possibly the Johannesburg and Toronto Stock Exchanges.

Performance of Investments of the Fund

The Fund recorded an annualized end-year return of 6.13% in 2022. The return was also influenced by foreign exchange volatility and good treasury management of funds.

Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, the Chief Executive Officer of the Fund told the Daily Graphic exclusively, “MIIF mobilized GH¢1.3 billion in 2021 and GH¢1.8 billion in 2022, representing a 36% growth over the previous year. This was a major factor in growing the Fund’s AUM. We have been able to do this because of an inter-agency framework we put in place last year which has seen us collaborating with more agencies. These agencies include the Ghana Standards Authority, the Economic and Organized Crime Office and the Minerals Commission which is the regulator of the minerals sub-sector. We have also adopted innovative technologies such as geo-mapping all mining sites in Ghana and also creating a real-time dashboard for all royalties contribution from every mine in the country,” Mr Koranteng said.

Mr Koranteng further said “the Fund put in measures to expand the royalties stream by adding sand-winning and salt to the list of royalties paying minerals which help with diversifying the royalties base away from gold.”

MIIF outperforms Global Benchmarked Indexes

MIIF outperformed global benchmarks with an annualized end-year return of 6.13% in 2022. The year 2022 witnessed significant market losses for equities and Fixed Income investments globally.

Equities spent most of the year in a bear market, with the S&P 500, FTSE 100, and GSE-CI recording end-year returns of -19.49%, +0.91%, -12.38%, respectively. This compares to the 6.13% return achieved by MIIF.

The bond market was also hit, especially in developing economies, as the risk of defaults increased. The Russia-Ukraine conflict triggered global inflation and general market uncertainties.

MIIF as a lever for development

Mr. Koranteng expressed optimism that MIIF will, in a few years, become the lever that can help Ghana through volatile economic periods and offer the stability that is needed in the economy.

“MIIF will seek to diversify its funding and investment portfolio sources, including capital market transactions, a gold trade desk which has already been set up which will definitely be a source of forex for the country and explore risk participation in high-yielding projects with top-grade financial institutions,” Mr Koranteng.  

Mr Koranteng emphasized: “We are a young fund, however, we are focused on getting it right. We plan to hit the US$500 million AUM by January 2024 and US$1 billion by 2027. We have made investments in Asante Gold, we are targeting some gold exploratory companies, lithium and salt as well as lithium by-products such as feldspar and silica to kickstart the ceramics and fiberglass industry.”

MIIF

The Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) is Ghana’s minerals sovereign fund. MIIF was established pursuant to the Minerals Income Investment Fund Act, 2018 (Act 978) as amended to receive royalties payments from mineral production activities in Ghana and to manage the government’s equity interest in mining companies.

Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Ernest Addison, in a speech read on his behalf at the launch of the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Energy Commercial Bank, said the regulator will continue to encourage banks that want to list on the GSE to raise long-term capital to do so.

“Presently we have eight banks listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange and today’s launch will inch-up the number to nine, which represents 30percent of the regulated banks. Obviously, we still have a long way to go as we seek to help get our banks listed on the local exchange.

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As regulators, we will continue to assist by revising our processes and do away with unnecessary hindrances when it comes to listing to help grow and support the vision of having sound and reputable capital market where institutions can source for funding,” he said.

The benefits of listing on the stock exchange are immense. They include: Elevating the market value of firms through improved transparency and integrity, liquidity, enhanced financial flexibility, reduction in cost of capital, investor protection, prestige and branding, as well as compliance to rules and regulations, among others.

Research, according to the Governor, has shown that companies become more efficient after getting listed through greater public scrutiny, which in the long term, benefit the business.

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“Coupled with these benefits, there are studies to suggest a positive correlation between financial intermediation in the stock market and GDP. This makes capital market funding an important and welcome supplement not the least for financial institutions in the country,” he said.

He added that there is no doubt that capital markets perform important macroeconomic functions. “The increasingly important role of the capital market as a source of financing is a positive development, particularly as they diversify funding structures and make institutions less vulnerable to crises.”

The banks on the local bourse have raised and continue to raise significant capital. In 2018 alone, in major moves to meet the Central Bank’s stated capital, Access, Republic, and Societe Generale banks have raised close to GH¢700million. With Energy Commercial Bank seeking to raise at least GH¢340million, this will bring the total capital raised to GH¢1billion.

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Reforms and corporate governance

The Governor noted that the financial sector reforms will be expedited to ensure that: “We are able to transform both banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) into strong financial institutions which are competitive and financially viable,” he said.

Dr. Addison, touching on the need for banks to adhere to good corporate governance, said the deposit taking business is one built on confidence and trust. “As we are all aware banks are highly leveraged institutions and as such can only be successful when lenders have full confidence that banks have the financial strength to meet its obligations as and when they fall due.”

He therefore called for improved corporate governance structures to protect depositors and shareholders in the course of intermediation. “Significant efforts have been made to improve corporate governance within the system by the issuance of Corporate Directive in March, 2018.”

He said that the guidelines will ensure improvements in micro infrastructures related to corporate governance, which is an important step to enhance the influence of financial institutions.

“We firmly believe that the adoption of these new corporate governance directives would translate into banks enjoying access to broad range of financing sources and at the same time lay a solid foundation for the rapid development of other financial products within the industry,” he added.