Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah
Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, has announced that the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) will commence full operations today, November 6, 2018.
Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah, who disclosed this to journalists in Accra, said the Exchange would start operating after its official launch by President Akufo-Addo.
According to the minister, GCX is a regulated market that links buyers and sellers of commodities to trade by rules while assuring the market of quality, timely delivery and settlement.
He added that the government currently holds 100 percent of the shares of GCX.
He disclosed that in the first 12 months, the GCX would trade staple foods, including maize, soybean, rice, dry beans, millet, sorghum and groundnut.
Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah added that “however, there are plans that from 12 months to 24 months, the GCX will trade in cashew, cocoa, timber, shea butter and vegetables. GCX, after three years, will trade in metals, minerals, petroleum and gas.”
The move is apparently part of efforts of the Akufo-Addo administration to improve Ghana’s trade on the international market, as well as support the commercialization of yields from the flagship ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ (PFJ) initiative.
Benefits
Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah told reporters that trading through the commodity exchange shall offer benefits such as standardized weights and grades of commodities, guaranteed prompt payments, 24 hours of trade, access to multiple and premium buyers, secured storage facilities and access to financial services and risk management tools such as insurance.
He observed that “it’s important to buy through GCX because the platform addresses the needs of diverse buyers looking for quality products.”
He also indicated that the GCX would lower transaction cost due to better coordination of commodities and as such buyers would not have to move to gather commodities.
According to him, “GCX only provides a platform to link buyers and sellers of commodities. Commodity prices are set by sellers.”
He said that GCX would not duplicate the efforts of the Ghana Grains Council, noting that “the mandate of GGC is to set records for the grain industry and the exchange is to be a market that links members to trade.”
By Melvin Tarlue