Securities market experiences first awards nigh

PLAYERS of the nation's securities market, regulated by the Security and Exchange Commission over the weekend experienced their first awards night, virtually 20 years after the Ghanaian capital market took shape.
The Ghana Investment Awards (GIA), organised by the Premier Networking Investment Club (PNIC), was among other things to recognise the dedicated performance of individuals and institutions towards the nation's country's capital market, and in so doing encourage  competition to breed excellence in the industry.
In all, 13 institutions and three individuals were awarded for their respective hardwork in their areas of operations.
President of the PNIC, Mr Kwame D Ampofo, noted that the awards were meant "to educate the investor public about the products and services available to them, while helping create awareness of the market."
He said this year's awards night, having been the maiden edition "has been without challenges. We, however, been overwhelmed at the support we have received from all stakeholders" adding that the GIA team had successfully gone through them to have the event.
He said the team was hoping to "continually" improve on the procedures with "increased rigour in order to reward only deserving winners."
The minister of finance and economic planning, who was the guest of honour noted that a well developed securities market in the country would "help mobilise private funds and channel such funds to the most productive sectors of the economy.
"Government, is therefore committed to the development of this market," the Chief Director of the ministry, Mr Nicholas Jamil, who represented the finance and economic planning minister said.
The deputy Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange, Mr Ekow Afedzi, observed that the award scheme "was a good initiative. There has never been an initiative like this to recognise the hard work and commitment of people and institutions to the development of the securities market since it started shaping about 20 years ago."
He was also of the view that the award scheme would help spur up competition in the sector and thus hoped that the market would in the coming years witness excellent operations.
The Ghana Commercial Bank won the Best Performing Stock for the year 2010.
Other industry players such as CAL Brokers, CAL Asset Management, Databank Group, IC Securities, Merban Investment Holdings, Strategic African Securities, HFC Investments Services, SDC, HFC Brokerage, Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC), SIC Financial Services Ltd., Merban Investment Holdings and Ecobank Investment Managers also received awards ranging from gold to silver.