A 2019 update of financial markets index rankings by the Amalgamated Bank of South Africa (ABSA) has seen Ghana slip six places in its attractiveness to investors.
Out of a total of 20 African countries assessed, GH ranked 13th, slipping from its previous 7th position by six places in the immediate aftermath of the financial sector reforms that has seen many banks and financial houses closed down.
Authors of the report describe Ghana’s slip as the result of, “low wholesale foreign exchange market turnover” despite making some strides in the area of attractive tax environment.
Head of Global Markets, Absa Regional Operations, George Asante, has also chimed an explanation, claiming that Ghana’s drop does not necessarily mean that its overall performance was poor but that other countries have outpaced GH in the matter of cogent reforms in their financial markets.
“For
instance, if you look at the individual pillars, you will realize that Ghana
shot up especially in Market Depth, Liquidity of instruments issued on the
stock Ghana Stock and by government. This is what we should also look at,” he
stated.
With the slip coming on the heels of the financial sector clean-up by the
Akufo-Addo administration, the development has naturally put these reforms into
questionable perspective. However, Mr. Asante downplayed the rippling
effect, saying reforms take time to impact.
The
2019 ABSA Index tracked performances of financial markets in 20 African
countries on six main pillars – Market depth, Access to foreign exchange,
Market transparency and regulation, Capacity of local investors, Macroeconomic
opportunity and Enforceability of international financial agreements.
South Africa, Mauritius, Kenya, Namibia, Botswana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia,
Rwanda, Uganda, Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, Seychelles, Mozambique, Ivory Coast,
Angola, Senegal, Cameroon and Ethiopia were the countries surveyed.
SA
topped the index due to its sizeable lead in ‘Market Depth’ followed by
Mauritius, Kenya, Namibia, Botswana and Nigeria in that order.
Absa, formerly Barclays
Africa Group Limited, and originally Amalgamated Banks of South Africa, started
the index in 2017. It says in the two years that the index has been operating, countries have taken steps to align their local market
infrastructure with global standards.
Absa Group Limited is an African based financial
services group, offering personal and business banking, credit cards, corporate
and investment banking, wealth and investment management as well as
bancassurance. It is the majority shareholder of 11 banks spanning Botswana,
Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania (two
entities), Uganda and Zambia, with a further two representative offices in
Namibia and Nigeria.