their financial markets to attract investors. this year ’ s edition is to focus on policy and market development initiatives and will undoubtedly boost developments in the regional financial markets. 5. ladies and gentlemen permit me to share with you how the absa financial markets index is helping to shape the policy dialogue in ghana. the 2017 barclays africa ( now absa ) african financial markets index, noted that of the six pillars used in the assessment of african financial markets, improving the legal and regulatory frameworks through establishing the legality and enforceability of standard financial markets master agreements of the ghanaian financial markets could provide a major boost and enhance liquidity in the bonds and equities markets. 6. the results of the barclays survey noted that in ghana, isda documentation ( international swap and derivatives association ) was well recognized but global master repurchase agreement ( gmra ) was in limited use, global master securities lending agreement ( gmsla ) was rarely used and the insolvency framework needed to be strengthened. therefore in 2017, a stakeholder committee in ghana, led by the central bank agreed on key reform measures that could improve the legal framework for the financial markets in ghana. 7. these included the adoption of gmra for repo trading and at a later stage the gmsla for securities lending, the linking of the local central securities depository ( csd ) to international clearing platforms like euroclear and the strengthening of the insolvency framework in ghana. the result of these reform initiatives is the publishing of guidelines for a gmra - based repo trading in ghana, a country annex and country annexes that was just yesterday launched herein washington d. c. 8. apart from being a vital source of secured financing for banks and financial institutions, and a key tool for the implementation of monetary policy, repos also offer a low - risk and liquid investment for cash, as well as the efficient management of liquidity and collateral by financial firms and can be used to hedge or modify the risk profile of portfolios. 9. netting rights and setoffs are generally recognized and upheld under ghanaian law. with respect to the banking sector, the bog will issue a notice to clarify the recognition of netting arrangements in financial contracts in the banks and special deposit taking institutions act, 2016 ( act 930 ) in support of efforts to recognize ghana as a netting positive jurisdiction. 10. our experiences in ghana as a major destination for higher yield - seeking non - resident investors, tells us that access

sector will be fully addressed during the plenary sessions. these include sustaining macroeconomic stability through election cycles ; infrastructural development to support the productive sector and trade ; digitisation of the economy to enhance efficiency ; scaling up human capital development which is critical for sustainable growth and development, and last but not least, sustaining financial stability after the clean - up exercise. i believe that we will have fruitful deliberations from the distinguished panellists assembled for the various sessions. thank you. page | 4