Trade and Industry Minister Ekwow Spio-Garbrah has called on banks in the country to go beyond investing in Treasury bills to provide the financial backbone that is required to transform key sectors of the economy -- specifically, the agric sector -- to fast-track the national socio-economic growth agenda.

Speaking at the launch of the Ghana Commodity Exchange; a common market for commodities trading in Accra, he said the current situation wherein banks channel a bigger chunk of their investments into stocks will do less to support the cause of national development.

“It is worrisome that about 70 percent of banks in the country go into Treasury bills, as it is obvious that a country cannot develop along that line,” he said.

The minister said the lack of access to raw materials has been a major factor that is holding back entrepreneurs from investing in the agro-industry, and this requires financial institutions to increase investments to the agric sector to help smallholder farmers grow more produce to feed industry.

“Adequate investments to the sector will promote trust and confidence among sector actors --farmers, agro-processors, aggregators, and allied sector players -- to boost production as well as push the setting-up of more factories that will add value to local raw materials,” he said.

The GCX Project is a common market for trading local commodities in a transparent and uniform manner, with the view of improving livelihoods and profitability in the most dominant sector of the national economy.

This is expected to sanitise commercial activities in the agric sector to attract investors and help smallholder farmers and actors along the agric value chain to rake in more returns on their investments.

It is a public private partnership deal between government and a private sector financing consortium comprised of credible domestic and global institutional investors: Ecobank Ghana Limited; GCB Bank Limited; London-based private equity fund 8 Miles Fund; and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

GCX Project Lead, Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin; who is a recognised industry leader in establishing and operating commodity exchanges in frontier markets; said the implementation of the common market for commodity trading will ensure standardised product quality and transparency in pricing.

“A commodity exchange is basically a common marketplace that will connect multiple buyers and sellers of commodities in a standardised and transparent manner.

“This will provide a coordinated marketing system that will address the issues of post-harvest losses and push the country’s agric sector to a higher level through a reliable, orderly and efficient mechanism,” she said.