<<Print>>

Activity on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) is expected to be reinforced further with the listing of oil giant, Tullow Oil on July 27, 2011 and the scheduled listing of another oil giant, Kosmos Energy. Tullow�s Initial Public Offer (IPO), which will allow some Ghanaian investors to buy into the company, will kick-start on Monday, June 13 2011. Last week, Kosmos Energy indicated its readiness to go public in Ghana. Two executives of Kosmos had earlier visited the country to evaluate the company�s options in connection with the plans to list on the Accra Bourse According to reports, some multinational companies, including banks, are exploring measures to float their shares on the Accra Bourse in the future to allow Ghanaian investors to become part owners. Tullow will therefore float 44.44 percent of its shares to the investing public, beginning June 13 while Kosmos is expected to list on the exchange before the end of the year. Total volume of shares traded on Tuesday, June 7 was 572,431 while the market capitalization of the 35 listed firms was GH�20, 353, 78 million. Market capitalization during the second week of January 2011 was GH�20.025.14 million. The shares of Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) were highly patronized on the trading day. The two banks traded 267,400 and 55,000 shares on the Accra Bourse. So far, GCB, Total Ghana, Unilever Ghana, Fan Milk and Ecobank are among listed firms that have witnessed significant share price appreciations since the beginning of the year. Presently, they are trading at GH�3.00, GH�17.50, GH�7.25, GH�3.00 and GH�3.52 per share respectively. The GSE Composite Stock Index (CSI), based on the volume weighted average closing price of all listed stocks and the Financial Stock Index (FSI), comprising banking and insurance stocks, as at Tuesday, June 8, were 16.89 percent and 15.24 percent respectively. Meanwhile, the GSE has expressed excitement about the listing of jubilee operator, Tullow Oil in July. According to Joy Business report, the GSE is optimistic the listing would significantly improve the bourse�s fortunes. Kofi Yamoah, Managing Director of the exchange, explained that the bourse�s visibility and market capitalization will certainly improve. �We want to have a situation where we can improve the supply side of the market and when you talk about the supply side we are looking at the variety of companies that are listed on this market � and the more we have companies like Tullow listing, the more we improve the supply side of the market so that investors can have a bigger variety to choose from in terms of investing in this market,� he said.