When the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) was officially opened in January 1991, governmet made it clear that most of the comopanies earmarked for diverstiture will be done through the GSE.

However, the situation seems to be clearly the opposite as almost all the 103 companies divested as at June 1994, none was done through the stock exchange. These figures exclude the sale of shares in the seven listed companies as as they were treated in a special manner which could not be said hsaaving been divested through the exchange.

Ashanti Goldfield Company (AGC) Ltd. is the only company which went through the London Stock Exchange and Ghana Stock Exchange.

The reason given by the government for not divesting most compnies through the exchange was due to the poor performance and lack of profitability of many of thse enterprises. The reason is that they do not qualify under the listing requirement of hte exchange quoted at hte time of diverstiture.

Notwithstanding, the flotation of the government shares in Ghana Pionner Aluminium Factory (GPAF) through the exchange should now open the flood gates for gate for more companies qualified under the listing regulations to be divested through the exchange.

Govermnet is presently off-loading its 40 per cent stakes in GPAF. The offer for sale which began on May 29th ends in July and involved the sale of 6.4 million ordinary shares valued at C 115 per share. The offer is expected to to raise C 736 million for government. In the event of a substantial over-subscription , GPAF will use a minimum of C 150 million to finance part of its C 380 million expansion programme. The company has set a minimum figure of C400 million which should be realised from the offer. GPAF was founded in 1959 by the Swiss natioanl and was converted to a limited liability company in 1994.

Currently the key owners in the company are the government of Ghana 40 per cent, Ghana Venture Capital Fund Ltd. 35 per cent, and current/former GPAF empolyees and customers 10 per cent. The others are Ventures Aquisition Ltd. 7. 5 per cent, Devag Ltd. 5 per cent and GPAF Employees Trust 2.5 and GPFA Employers Trust 2.5 percent.

The company is the second largest manufacturer and distributor of aluminium hollowware products controlling about 30 per cent of the market. The company has incresed its revenue to C 2.7 milliion in 1994 from only C 719 million in 1990. During the same period, profits after tax, incresed to C 205 million in 1994 from a loss of C134 million in 1990.