Avellon Williams
KINGSTON, JAMAICA, – The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) and the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) have formed a partnership through which the capital markets of Jamaica 🇯🇲 and Ghana 🇬🇭 will expand their products and services to investors in both countries.
During the special bell-ringing ceremony at JSE’s Harbour Street offices in Kingston on May 2, representatives of both entities signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of Mutual Recognition.
During the opening ceremony, the bell was rung symbolically to signify the opening of the market and to welcome the GSE delegation to Jamaica and the JSE.
The JSE’s managing director, Dr. Marlene Street Forrest, and the GSE’s Peterson Ekow Afedzie signed the document in Jamaica, thanking the GSE for coming to the island, “as this further cement our objective of strengthening our linkages and improving our relationship with another area of our diaspora connection- the South-South connection.”
As the JSE pursues its 2025 vision to expand its borders for growth and sustainability, Street Forrest said it is committed to diversifying and expanding its participation not just in local and regional markets but in international markets as well.
She said “We continue this journey of executing our 2025 strategic mission by going further afield to Africa, starting with Ghana where our people are similar. This is also in pursuit of the initiative to the benefit of both GSE and the JSE, because we feel that we can work together to ensure that there is wealth creation, that there is a further development of our markets.”
Additionally, Street Forrest noted that the JSE has built good relationships with a number of its sister exchanges within the Caribbean, as well as with exchanges in North America, the United Kingdom (UK), and other countries around the globe.
According to her, through the MOU, the JSE will now start expanding into the African continent, beginning with Ghana, stressing that Africa, like the Caribbean, is the next frontier for growth and development.
The managing director noted that there are certain attributes that ally with Ghana’s ideal, pointing out, for example, that like Jamaica, Ghana has a young, educated middle-class population with a high demand for goods and services.
“Therefore, over the next several years, many companies globally, I believe, will be setting up industries and companies in Africa and the Caribbean. I believe as a stock exchange we are perfectly poised to benefit from such expansion,” she said.
She explained that the JSE views an alliance with the GSE as a start toward creating alliances with other countries in Africa and exploring collaborative and cooperative efforts on the continent.
“We have 50 years of experience; Ghana has [had its] exchange for 30 years, but we believe that we can leverage both experiences for the benefit [of both parties]. There is sufficient commonality for mutual understanding, collaboration, and growth, and this will help to flesh out those areas of cooperation and set a path for a closer relationship, which we hope will benefit our exchanges… and deepen our ties across the continent,” she said.
Afedzie noted that the signing of the MOU is historic for several reasons, including the fact that it is the first time Jamaica has signed an agreement relevant to the African stock market.
“It is also historic for Ghana because it’s the first time we are also reaching out to the Caribbean,” he said.
Afedzie noted that the GSE is excited about the collaboration “that we believe will last for a very long time. That collaboration [has led] to us signing an MOU, which I hope, and I believe, will lead to us having cross-listers where we can have companies from Ghana listing on the JSE and vice versa”.
“We believe that this collaboration can lead to further development of our economies; it can lead to us collaborating in terms of the broader economies and, therefore, we also know that this collaboration will lead to exploration of various investment opportunities across Jamaica and Ghana,” he added.
Afedzie, along with a delegation from the GSE, is on a week-long study tour of the JSE.
