The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it is working to unlock billions of dollars in diaspora capital for Ghana’s capital market.
According to the commission, it is seeking to transform a portion of the country’s growing remittance inflows into long-term investment funding for businesses and infrastructure development.
The move comes amid increasing evidence that many Ghanaians living abroad are eager to invest back home but lack trusted, accessible and regulated channels to do so.
Speaking on the sidelines of a consultative engagement with broker-dealers and other capital market stakeholders, Deputy Director-General in charge of Finance at the SEC, Mensah Thompson, disclosed to the media that recent discussions with Ghanaian communities in the United Kingdom and the United States exposed significant untapped investment potential.
“So, I think it’s something that caught my attention recently when I travelled to the United Kingdom and the US, where I engaged our ambassadors in the UK and the US, and I realised that there were a lot of problems in terms of Ghanaians in the diaspora who wanted to invest back home and did not know how to go about it,” he said.
According to him, Ghana’s Ambassador to the UK recounted an encounter with a group of Ghanaian citizens interested in mobilising capital for national development projects.
“The ambassador raised an issue of a delegation she received from Ghanaian citizens in the UK who wanted to help the government invest in any infrastructure project, like the dam in Ethiopia, where the diaspora raised money for the Ethiopian government to build a dam.”
The group, he disclosed, was willing to commit funds if the government could identify viable projects with clear returns.
“They said, look, if the government can point out a particular feasible infrastructure project which is income-generating and how long it’s going to pay for it, the diasporas are willing to mobilise money and come and invest in the project.”
Mr. Thompson said the experience highlighted a major opportunity for Ghana’s capital market.
“And that really struck me because I realised that there’s a lot of interest in the diasporas to invest back home, but they just do not have the means and the channel to do so.”
He explained that the SEC is therefore engaging broker-dealers, who serve as key market intermediaries, to develop the tools and frameworks needed to attract diaspora investment.
“How do we come up with the necessary tools and frameworks to absorb and to attract the diaspora capital to come home?”
The initiative aligns with broader efforts to channel remittance inflows into productive investments.
“We’ve heard the President talk about remittances and this year we’ve received about 8 billion in remittances. And even if out of this 8 billion, 4 billion is finding its way to the capital market, it’s huge.”
Mr. Thompson said the SEC is working with market operators to create the necessary channels to enable diaspora capital to flow into regulated investment opportunities, while supporting the growth and development of Ghana’s capital market.
