Investor welcomes shareholders association

Boahene Asamoah

AN investor on the Ghana Stock Exchange, Mr Samuel Oduro Mintah, has welcomed the idea of the formation of a shareholders association, saying it would help deepen capital market development in the country.
Speaking in an interview, Mr Mintah, however, expressed the hope that such an association should not be hijacked by a few individuals for their personal interest.
The Ghana Stock Exchange has initiated steps to form a shareholders association in the country to help deepen the capital market development.
A five-member committee has been formed to look at possible ways of coming out with modalities for the formation of a formidable shareholders association in the country.
Mr Mintah, who has been an active trader on the stock market since its inception, said it was important that shareholders were encouraged to form an association that would be formidable and ensured that the right things were done.
He said in most cases, shareholders could not question some decisions of board members because they adequate knowledge and said if there was an association that was well informed, shareholders could assert their rights and responsibilities.
He said the formation of the association was also timely, coming at time that most listed equities were expected to hold their annual general meetings.
Additionally, he said with the expected bullish trading on the market, shareholders were expected to participate fully in the market and generate some excitement on the bourse.
On his expectations for the market this year, Mr Mintah said shareholders were looking for a good year after two years of bearish and slow trading.
He predicted that the market would achieve about 15 to 18 per cent growth in the year-to-date gain.
Mr Mintah said with the expected listings of companies such as GOIL, the State Insurance Company (SIC) and other companies on the market, new shareholders would be brought onto the market, adding that it would broaden the number of shareholders on the bourse.
He called for sustained public education on investments in the stock market to disabuse people’s minds of instant benefits in investing on the stock market, adding that “investing on the stock market is for long-term benefits”.
Shareholders at various annual general meetings over the past years have requested dividend pay-outs, a trend, analysts express as worrying.
Others have taken legal action at decisions of boards to either issue bonus shares or to strategically take over competitors.
Analysts, however, are of the opinion that if shareholders were properly educated on such matters, such issues would have been avoided.