The Central Securities Depository (CSD) has launched a new digital platform, Investor Connect, aimed at making Ghana’s capital market more accessible, convenient and transparent to investors across the country and beyond.
The platform, officially launched in Accra last Thursday, allows investors to access information on their securities holdings and transaction history, while prospective investors can also begin the process of opening securities accounts digitally.
Speaking at the launch and the ring the bell ceremony at the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) last Thursday, the Chief Executive Officer of the CSD, Mr Joseph O. Lartey, said the initiative represented an important milestone in the institution’s transformation and efforts to place investors at the centre of the capital market.
“Investor Connect is significant because it gives investors a more direct and convenient digital interface with the CSD,” he said.
According to him, the ultimate objective was to remove some of the barriers that discouraged people from taking their first steps into the capital market.
He recalled that about two decades ago, he proposed the development of a web portal that would allow investors to access their securities accounts and other CSD services.
“At the time, I was told it was a red Ferrari. The question was: have you seen a red Ferrari on our roads in Accra?” he recounted, drawing laughter from the audience.
Mr Lartey said the vision had now become a reality, with technology creating opportunities for investors to access the market regardless of their location.
“Whether an investor is in an urban centre or in the farthest rural community in Ghana, location should become less of a barrier to participation in the market,” he said.
The Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), Ms Abena Amoah, who also chairs the steering committee for the CSD’s system upgrade and transformation programme, said the new platform should not be viewed as the destination.
She disclosed that the CSD’s upgraded system now supports nearly 1.7 million investor accounts, compared with about 647,000 a decade ago.
“Anyone who can check their bank balance on demand should be able to see their securities just as easily, without compromising the security and reliability on which the market depends,” she said.
Ms Amoah urged investors to use the platform and provide feedback to help improve it.
“A platform creates value only when people put it to work. So work it and let us work on it together,” she said.
The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, who the guest of honour said Investor Connect formed part of the broader evolution of Ghana’s financial market infrastructure.
He said the platform would enable investors to verify their securities holdings directly, thereby strengthening transparency and confidence.
“An investor who cannot see their own records depends entirely on information that is supplied periodically by someone else. An investor who can see those records is able to verify them,” he said.
The Governor, however, stressed that digital access must be accompanied by financial literacy and investor protection.
He charged the CSD to keep the platform secure, reliable and accessible while listening to investors and continuously improving the service.
The First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Zakari Mumuni, described Investor Connect as a “bridge” connecting investors to their securities.
“It shortens the journey and makes it easier to access,” he said.
The Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Dr James Kludze Avedzi, who delivered the keynote address, called for greater interoperability between financial platforms, including fintech and mobile money services, to widen participation in the capital market.
He said digitalisation could help remove barriers created by distance, bureaucracy and cumbersome processes.
The launch marked another step in Ghana’s drive towards a more connected, technology-driven and investor-focused capital market.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
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