Ghana Commodity Exchange

  The Ghana Commodity Exchange is a private company limited by shares, structured as a Public Private Partnership, with the government of Ghana currently the sole shareholder. The aim of the exchange is to establish linkages between agricultural and commodity producers and buyers, to secure competitive prices for their products, assuring the market quantity and quality as well as timely settlement of their trade. Ghana Commodity Exchange’s Management team is led by Dr. Kadri Alfah, the CEO, Mrs. Tucci Goka Ivowi, Deputy CEO, Mr. Robert Dowuono Owoo, COO. Ghana Commodity Exchange is a regulated national and regional market linking buyers and sellers of agricultural and non- agricultural products to trade under rules and discover prices while assuring the market quantity and quality of the products and timely settlement. GCX key goal is to link Ghanaian smallholder farmers to agricultural and financial markets in Ghana and across the West Africa Region to ensure Ghana farmers secure competitive prices for their commodities, as well as supply good quality commodities which meet the nutritional needs of the Ghanaian people. The GCX and GoG believe commodity exchanges are critical drivers of economic development and transformation. To this end, GCX is positioned as a national and regional exchange to formalize Ghana’s and West Africa’s agricultural sector and provide better access to agricultural and financial markets for participants. This business offers tremendous opportunities for Ghana and West Africa’s exports and creates new opportunities to increase Ghana and West Africa’s competitiveness in global markets. Through the establishment of the national and regional commodity exchange and its supporting infrastructure, GCX aims to promote the commercialization of the Ghana and West Africa’s agricultural sector, improve market access, increase market efficiency, and lower transaction costs. GCX business operations consist of: (1) a trading platform powered by a provider Trading system, and (2) warehouse storage operations linked to the exchange through an electronic warehouse receipt system (e-WRS), backed by collateral management services. One of the primary advantages of the GCX trading system is to enable all users (farmers, cooperatives, buyers, brokers, merchants etc.) to trade anywhere in the country, region and the world. Moreover, through the dissemination of data generated through the trading platform, the exchange provides participants with a price discovery mechanism that adds transparency and confidence, and enables participants to negotiate better prices. The warehousing operations linked to the exchange provide much needed value-added services including secure storage, product drying and grading, and re-packaging. The warehousing operations are supported by a collateral management system that enables warehouse operators to issue electronic warehouse receipts (e-WRs). Banks provide agricultural financing by using the e-WR as collateral.