President John Dramani Mahama rang the closing bell at the Nasdaq Stock Market in New York on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, using the ceremony to promote Ghana as a premier investment destination and a gateway to Africa.
The event at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square was the latest in a series of high-profile international engagements by the President, following his ringing of the Nasdaq opening bell in September 2025 and the London Stock Exchange market open in June 2026.
Ahead of the ceremony, Nasdaq’s giant Times Square screen displayed Mahama’s portrait alongside the message: “Ghana is Open for Business.” Nasdaq described the bell-ringing as a symbol of the economic ties between Ghana and the United States and of Ghana’s readiness to welcome global investment.
Accompanied by officials and representatives from Ghana’s investment and economic sectors, Mahama received applause from Nasdaq officials after ringing the bell. He responded: “Thank you.”
In brief remarks, the President said Ghana had undertaken the reforms needed to make it competitive and was ready to partner with investors. He pointed to agriculture, manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, technology, mining, health and pharmaceuticals as key sectors.
The ceremony came on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, where Ghana has been seeking to deepen economic diplomacy and attract foreign direct investment.
It also built on a year of strategic engagements. In September 2025, during the 80th UN General Assembly, Mahama rang the Nasdaq opening bell and later addressed a U.S.-Ghana Executive Business Roundtable co-hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre. There, he announced reforms including the removal of minimum capital requirements for foreign investors and a residency-by-investment programme, projected to attract between $5 billion and $10 billion by 2028.
In June 2026, he presided over the Market Open at the London Stock Exchange, where he urged global investors to back Ghana’s growth story and highlighted the performance of the Ghana Stock Exchange.
At that event, Mahama cited a Bloomberg report of May 15, 2026, showing the GSE Composite Index had delivered a return of 63.4 percent, making it one of the world’s best-performing equity markets that year. In dollar terms, the market returned 154 percent, while the local-currency return was 79 percent in 2025.
The President noted that the GSE’s equities market now stands at 263 billion Ghana cedis, with a fixed-income market of 253 billion Ghana cedis. After about seven years without a new initial public offering, three landmark IPOs were completed or announced within six months, raising approximately two billion Ghana cedis — about $182 million — and adding 11 billion cedis in market capitalisation.
Mahama attributed the market’s renaissance to disciplined macroeconomic management. Inflation, which peaked at 54.1 percent in 2022, fell to 3.4 percent. The cedi appreciated by more than 40 percent against the U.S. dollar in 2025, with gains continuing into 2026. International reserves under the IMF programme definition rose eightfold to $10.9 billion by June 2026.
Ghana also completed its $3 billion Extended Credit Facility arrangement with the International Monetary Fund, with the final review completed in July 2026 and a final disbursement of about $371 million.
On the legislative front, Mahama signed the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority Act, 2026 (Act 1173) into law in July 2026, transforming the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre into the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority. The law removes blanket minimum capital requirements for wholly foreign-owned enterprises, establishes a statutory Investor Grievance Mechanism and a one-stop shop for investors, and introduces citizenship-by-investment provisions.
The government has also launched its 24-Hour Economy policy, backed by GHS 110 million in the 2026 budget, and secured project agreements worth $5.5 billion, with four projects expected to create more than 160,000 jobs. Cabinet has approved sector-specific policies in textiles and garments, pharmaceuticals, automotive components and agribusiness, while plans are underway to list state-owned enterprises on the GSE to deepen liquidity and improve governance.
Officials say the government aims to convert nearly $12 billion in announced and pipeline investments into operational businesses.
Mahama has also consistently emphasised Ghana’s role as host of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat, describing the country as a gateway to a market of more than 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP exceeding $3.5 trillion.
As the closing bell echoed through the Nasdaq MarketSite, the message from New York was clear: Ghana’s economic renaissance is underway, and the President wants the world to invest in it.
