INDEPENDENCE OF THE BOARD AND VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURES

This study analyzes the relationship between board independence and voluntary disclosure for 19 African companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). After analyzing their 2010 annual financial reports we assigned points to these companies based on the extent and nature of their disclosure. We also compared some of the companies'' financial information namely equity long-term debt and earnings before interest and taxes to see if there was any relationship between these items and voluntary disclosure. The results showed that 100% of the 19 companies selected for this study have an independent board of directors. However 68% voluntarily disclose at least one piece of information and only 26% voluntarily disclose more than one piece of information.We also found that voluntary disclosure of information is diverse in nature depending on the field of intervention of the companies. We have therefore deduced that the nature of the voluntary information disclosed varies in the presence of an independent board of directors.