Ghana’s Fixed income โคMarket: recovery and Future Prospects
The Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM) is demonstrating resilience andโค growth following a challenging period marked by debt restructuring. While overall trading activity remains below peak levels, recentโ data reveals pocketsโข of value and a strengthening market driven by improving economic indicators.
Recent trading sessions highlight this dynamic.A 91-day treasury bill,maturing january 26,2026,wasโ the most actively traded government instrument,with 67.57โ million cedis โchanging hands across 15 โฃdeals,โ closing at 99.16. Banks and financial institutions continue to prioritize short-term government paper for effective cash flow and liquidity management.
Corporate bond trading saw 40.88 million cedis traded in โคtwo transactions involving bonds issued by โa major financial institution,maturing August 28,2028,and offering a 13 percent coupon. These bonds closed at 93.48, reflecting investor assessment of credit risk andโ the premium demanded over government securities. Meaningful activity also occurred inโ the repo market,with 68.19 million cedis traded across six deals in a government bond maturing February 11, 2031. This instrument, with an 8.95 percent coupon, closed at 73.91, yielding โค16.61 percent,and โproving valuable for collateralized short-term borrowing.
Established โin August 2015, GFIM has โขbecome a leading bond market in West Africa. after aโข substantial recovery in 2024, trading volume reached 174โข billion cedis, a significant increaseโ from the 98 billion cedisโ recorded in 2023. Cumulative trading โคvolumes have now surpassed 1.07 trillion cedis as of September 2025. The 2023 downturn was directly linked to the Ghana’s Domestic Debt Exchange Program (DDEP), which โcaused investor uncertainty and losses, leading to aโ collapse in trading volumes from a high of 230 billionโ cedis in 2022.
Though, โpositive economic trends are fostering renewed confidence. Inflation has fallenโฃ toโ 6.3โค percent in November 2025 – a four-year low and below the Bankโ of Ghana’s โtarget. The cedi has also strengthened considerably,โข appreciating by approximatelyโข 35 percent in 2025, โsupported by โrobust exports of โฃcocoa and gold. Responding to this stability, the Bank of Ghana has begunโ easing monetary policy, reducing โคits policy rate from 21.5 percent to 18 percent.
Despite these improvements, a risk premium โฃpersists, with medium-term government bondโ yields still ranging between 15.18 percent and 16.05 percent. Corporate โbond issuance remains subdued, withโ only eight companies currently maintaining active bonds, a decrease from twelve.โ โขTo date, corporations have โคcollectively raised 24.32 billion cedis through bond issuances. the Ghana stock Exchange is actively working to broaden market participation, aiming for 100 corporate listings andโข increasingโค investor accounts from two million to ten million.
GFIM operates onโ the Bloomberg E-Bond trading platform, ensuring clarity, โelectronic execution, and automated settlement. All government-issued treasury bills, bonds, and notes are automatically listed, with other securities, including corporate bonds andโ Bank of Ghana instruments, eligible upon meetingโค listing requirements. The market benefits from strengthened regulatory oversight, includingโ integration with the Central Securities Depository, supervision by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Bank of Ghana, and electronic surveillance systems.
As GFIM celebrates its tenth anniversary underโ the theme โ”Deepening Markets, Expanding possibilities,” analysts anticipate further growth in 2026. Improved โfiscal discipline, declining inflation, and a strengthening currency are expected to bolster investor confidence. The primary challenge remains attracting greater corporate participation to diversify funding sources beyond government debt and expand investment opportunities withinโฃ the market.
