Abstract: “Well-functioning stock exchanges have been linked to economic growth in many parts of the world. However, in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) listed companies and stock exchange activities reflect very little of country economic activities and economic output remains low. Research that has focused on unravelling constraints hampering the development of stock exchanges has been mostly aimed at identifying and removing transactional bottlenecks – trading systems, liquidity, institutions, and market integration. This study, conceived of as a fore-runner of the study of other SSA economies, identifies a new perspective on how to strategize for more companies in SSA to access the capital markets. Responses from World Values Survey type questionnaire were analyzed. Regression results suggest that variables that explain the proportion of own businesses that respondents will sell to the public to access capital markets relate to the values of the people, (trust), and the business environment. We propo”

Keywords: Ghana; Africa; stock exchange listings; entrepreneurs; economic growth; logit regression; culture values; trust; socio economic expansion; business expansion; World Values Survey.