Jostling through numerous investment schemes in search of a secure and high-yielding product could be such a daunting task.
Why? Because many products abound but the ability to decipher that which satisfies both needs: Preferred returns cum security is often hard to come by.
The search for such a uniquely positioned investment opportunity led Louis Boah, a young banker through a tumultuous path leading to severe financial crunch.
Boah, 33, grew up in a broken home in Ghana, spent his formative years with his dad and as the first of 5 children, he had to grow up fast and assume financial responsibilities by taking care of his younger siblings.
This responsibility was obviously not the type that his then banking job could absorb, he needed to make a quick decision by seeking an alternative source of income.
”That’s when I heard of forex trading. Before forex, I heard about High-Yield Investment Program (HYIPs), like Loom and other Ponzi schemes we have around.”
He then launched into HYIPs and invested heavily upon the advice of a friend which culminated into no discernible results other than excessive loses.
The biggest of all was when Arthur Budovsky, CEO of Liberty Reserve (Digital currency) was arrested for criminal offenses in 2013 which led to the closure of most online investment schemes such as Life Trust Investment LTD.
In 2013, the BBC reported that Liberty Reserve was shut down and in 2016, its chief Arthur Budovsky was sentenced for 20 years for engaging in Ponzi scheme, money laundering and other criminal activities.
According to him, although the friend who introduced him, also a branch manager in a financial institution parted ways with a lot of cash, he (Boah) lost more because he invested more.
“I turned $2000 to $ 29,000 and lost all when the CEO of Liberty Reserve (the digital currency) was arrested by the United States financial illicit team and ceased the domain of the company website for money laundering,” he recounted to Business World Ghana in an interview.
Today, he looks back with pride and a sense of fulfilment as he has finally found the way; founded a trading school (Gold Forex Institute), to help Ghanaians in search of a legit and secure investment opportunity.
The school, made up of a myriad of professionals wanting to make additional income, he says has trained over 500 students across, Asia, Africa and Middle East since its inception.
Ditching his banking job after 10 years and losing so much, he started investing in online forex trading and subsequently launched his brokerage company, FXGold Trading Limited, incorporated in St Vincent and the Grenadines, all in a bid to enable people take advantage of the booming 6 trillion (daily trading turnover) business.
Currently, he says he manages a company portfolio of over $500,000 (not generated from public but from start-up trading capital) and a personal portfolio of over $100,000.
In November 2017, he made a major hit while trading.
“My biggest success in trading in terms of risk and reward ratio was when I turned $8000 to $136,000 in 3 weeks trading XRP ripple on margin with high leverage,” he explained.
Boah was however, quick to add that online forex trading isn’t a get-rich scheme as highly perceived because it’s incumbent on individuals to be au fait with rules of the game to succeed.
“You need to know the rules of the game to reduce your risks and maximize returns, invest in training to acquire needed skills. Also, apply proper risk management tools to enable you jump on the next available equity on the market.”
“Don’t focus on making quick money because that quick money you would like to make, can wipe out your account,” he advised.
The only challenge he and his colleagues have had to grapple with is getting Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to stipulate a framework that covers retail forex trading to regulate the market while crushing fraudsters who often litter the space.
The delay from the side of the SEC to formalize the sector, analysts believe stem from their lack of expertise and understanding in how online forex trading works.
But the sector when formalised, is expected to rake in more revenue for the country while stemming fraud associated with the industry, he says.
By: Pamela Ofori- Boateng/ Business World Ghana/Copyright © 2019