Investors believe Ghana’s market mature as oil replaces cocoa – Euromoney

A research conducted by Euromoney has shown that Ghana has a mature market in the eyes of investors as oil replaces cocoa as the country’s number one major export.

In just three years, oil replaced cocoa as Ghana’s chief export with crude production set to double above 250,000 barrels a day by 2021.

According to the June 2013 Euromoney Research Guides which sampled opinions from economists and market analysts, Ghana, with a stand out market is on a solid growth trajectory.

Group Chief Economist at South Africa’s Nedbank, Mr Dennis Dykes was quoted as saying in the research that “Ghana boasts of a sophisticated and a highly educated population. It has Nigeria nearly and a well-established consumer market and a growing oil sector.”

Mr Dykes continue “This is a country with a lot going for it.”

Ghana is a standout market – one of the few African nations growing as fast as the frontier economies of South East Asia, says Brad Maxwell who heads Nedbank Capital’s Investment banking division.

Euromoney noted that foreign investors can find any number of ways to direct capital into high-yielding local investments.

It said “Ghana’s financial sector offers one of the few opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa to invest reliably and efficiently in heavily traded local securities.”

Financial Research Specialist at Ecobank, Sulemana Mohammed described the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) as one of the two West African bourses with size and scale along with the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE).

Mr Mohammed told Euromoney that, “The GSE has an excellent reputation among global investors” pointing to “high levels of governance” at most notable listed corporates.

Meanwhile, the research urged Ghana to cut down its rising fiscal deficit, use oil proceeds wisely and protect itself from external shocks in the global export market.

By Ekow Quandzie