We’re committed to assisting Gov’t to restore market confidence – ACI Ghana at maiden awards night

The President of ACI Ghana, Lawrence Osilaja Boampong, has disclosed that the association is lacing its boots to help the Ghanaian government restore financial confidence among the citizenry.

He said that despite the present economic challenges facing the country coupled with the volatility in the financial markets, all is not lost if the government can give ACI Ghana the chance to work hand-in-hand with her to restore the confidence of investing public.

“To a large extent, we are trying to see how the market and ACI as a whole try to restore confidence by working closely with the government and key stakeholders for us; that’s the focus, and that is actually what we will be taking into 2024,” he said.

Mr. Boampong made this disclosure on Saturday, December 16, 2023, during the end-of-year awards and dinner night of the association in Accra, the first of its kind.

He said, considering the hardship of the economy and the fact that that has affected the investment landscape and trading activities generally, ACI Ghana would want to see a lot of diversity in the coming year.

“ACI expects a lot more diversification in 2024, a lot of innovation, institutions coming up with newer products, and deepening the market space.”

He revealed further that ACI Ghana would be working with key stakeholders, including the media, to deepen the public’s understanding of the financial markets and promote general financial literacy.

“We will also work closely with stakeholders like you, the journalists. I think we’ve started the programme, and hopefully many of you will benefit from it, so yes, we want to deepen the market next year because we believe that there is an opportunity for growth,” he explained.

In addition, the president disclosed that the association has a line-up of activities it wants to carry out, the first of which is hosting the first-ever financial market conference, which seeks to bring together key stakeholders in the financial market both within and outside Ghana with the sole aim of learning from each other and observing how they can collectively play an active role in deepening the financial market.

He furthered that ACI Ghana is considering holding financial literacy sessions at senior high schools and tertiary institutions to promote financial knowledge among students even before they step into the world of work. According to him, this initiative has also taken off this year and is expected to reach its target in 2024 and beyond.

AWARDS

Some individuals and institutions in the financial markets industry were recognised and awarded for their sterling performance in the year under review.

Daniel Boateng of GCB Bank Plc won the Individual Fixed Income Dealer of the Year, whereas Selassie Kabo of Stanbic Bank Ghana won the Foreign Exchange Dealer of the Year.

Asset and Liability Management (ALM) staff of the year was won by Norman Adu Bamfo of Absa Bank Ghana.

Karen Akita of Stanbic Bank Ghana and Maame Abena Owusu-Acheaw of Fidelity Bank Ghana won the Back Office Staff of the Year and Middle Office Staff of the Year, respectively.

Fixed Income Institution of the Year (Bank) went to GCB Bank Plc, while Fixed Income Institution of the Year (Broker) was annexed by Fincap Securities.

Black Star Brokerage clinched the Best Institution in Market Intelligence.

Kofi Kodua Sarpong of Sarpong Capital won the Most Interactive Member for the year, and Ronald Mensah of Stanbic Bank Ghana won the Best Institutional Representative.

The event was also used to raise additional funds to complete a project the association had started at the Senior Correctional Centre, also known as the Borstal Home in Dzorwulu, Accra.