Listing on GSE still on our minds -Kosmos CEO

The Chief Executive Officer of Kosmos Energy, Mr Brain Maxted, has stated that the company has not abandoned its quest to offload part of its stake on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). “Our dream of listing on the exchange is still alive but we will do so when we see the economic and commercial conditions clear and ripe for us”, he said.

Mr Maxted made the commitment in an interview with a cross section of the media in Accra.

He denied the assertion that the company could not list because the GSE rejected its bid to enable the company to fully meet the requirements of the local bourse saying “we are timing to see when it is right for us to get on board”.

A year after Tullow, one of the Jubilee partners on Ghana’s oil fields listed part of its shares on the GSE, Kosmos also made an attempt until news came in that it could no longer go ahead with its intended listing.

There are speculations that Kosmos is yearning to list five per cent of its stake in the beginning and tripling as the years went by.

Presently there are 34 companies trading on the exchange returning impressive returns for shareholders.

This has made the local bourse a formidable source to raise capital for expansion and recapitalization.

It has also become the avenue for which companies would want to share a part of their profits with indigenes of the country in which they operated.

Due to the enormous benefits of listing on the GSE, coupled with the high interest rates charged by the banks, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has intensified calls for companies to use the GSE as a source to raise long term capital to run their businesses.

Kosmos has announced its intention to inject an additional $400 million into its operations in the Jubilee oil fields this year to enhance its operations.

The company which first made its footprint in the country in 2004, struck oil in 2007, an achievement which made its hope of turning the natural resources of the country into a national resource a dream come true.

By Charles Benoni Okine