This year will go down as one of the most notable in Ghana’s history. We knew it was going to be a tough year, but we could not have imagined a default on external debt, the restructuring of domestic debt that essentially dried up the secondary market, the highest level of inflation in a generation, and a 40% decline in the value of the Ghana cedi compared to the US dollar. It is one of the worst economic years on record and the 12.38% decline in stocks is mild in the context of all what has happened.

Of the 39 listed equities on the bourse, 14 ended the year with a negative return. The average negative return was 18% with the five worst performing stocks being Unilever, PBC, CAL Bank, Fan Milk and GCB Bank. Nine stocks ended the year in positive territory with an average return of 67%. The five best performing stocks were SIC, Trust Bank Ltd (Gambia), New Gold ETF, Access Bank and Benso Oil Palm Plantation.

Coming off a 43% return last year, the -12.38% experienced this year would have disappointed many investors who got into the market after the fantastic performance last year. Nevertheless, in such a turbulent year, things could have been much worse.