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Generally, every activity that is done today but which yeilds profit at a later date can be described as an investment. Investment involves postponing today’s consumption in order to put your savings to work.

Investment can also be described as the bridge between having savings/surplus cash and reaping returns. In other words, investment has the potential to move the savings/surplus funds of one person/entity to another who needs or requires those funds.

Investment is a necessary condition for wealth creation. Investment helps in realizing one's dreams such as buying a car, house, or paying for your child's education at a future date.

Equity investments are investments in ventures or corporate entities which do not guarantee any returns and the investment does not mature unlike money market investments. Equity investment can either be in the form of ordinary shareholding or preference shareholding.  Equity investors only receive dividend if paid and enjoy capital gains when the price of the share goes up and vice-versa. Equity investments are traded in Ghana on the Ghana Stock Exchange. 

Any individual who is 18 years or above or corporate bodies can invest on the Ghana Stock Exchange. Such an individual must understand that investment on the Ghana Stock Exchange is long-term and that there are risks involved, especially during the short-term. The investment will be guided by the investment objective and horizon for which you intend to retrieve your investment.

Every investor who wishes to buy shares on the GSE should have or open a GSD Account (Security Account) to enable transaction executed on his/her account through the automated platform of the Ghana Stock Exchnage.

An investor who wants to sell shares should have a GSD account, if not then the investor will have to open a GSD account before the sale instruction can be carried.

Investment time horizon refers to the period of time an investor is prepared to wait for his/her investment to mature. The investment time horizon is determined by the investor. For instance, Mr. Mo Kamara may have GH¢10 million today to invest and would want it back in four months while Mr. Awuah who has the same amount to invest may need the money back in 5 years. In this case Mo Kamara has a short-term investment horizon while Mr. Awuah has a long-term investment horizon.

The amount of money you need to invest on the Ghana Stock Exchange depends on the prices of shares you select. Shares are usually traded in batches or round lots of 100. Where the price of a particular stock is high, an investor can contact a broker to buy fewer than 100 shares or what is commonly referred to as odd lots.

Share prices are fundamentally determined by supply and demand. In stock market terminology, demand refers to bids and supply refers to offers. All other things remaining the same, the price of a share will go up if bids for the share exceed offers.

Investors can get information from the GSE website, PSBL website, business papers and electronic media. This will provide you with information about investment environment and help you monitor your investments.