Ghana’s fixed income market posted its strongest quarterly performance in years during the first three months of 2026, but the headline surge masks a widening divide between a thriving government securities market and a corporate bond segment that remains structurally thin and dominated by a single quasi-sovereign issuer.
Data from the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM) show that total traded volume reached 114.39 billion units in the first quarter of 2026, nearly doubling from 59.24 billion units recorded in the same period a year earlier. Total trade value climbed to GH¢103.57 billion from GH¢48.19 billion, reflecting both improved liquidity and a sharp increase in average transaction size. March alone accounted for 35.8 billion units valued at GH¢32.6 billion, compared with 20.2 billion units and GH¢16.3 billion in March 2025.
The number of market trades rose to 138,925 in the quarter, up from 132,808 a year earlier, though the modest rise in transaction count relative to the near-doubling of volumes suggests the recovery has been driven by larger institutional trades rather than a broad expansion in market participation.
Yields have declined markedly across the curve. Medium- to long-term government bonds now trade between roughly 10 percent and 13 percent, compared with levels above 22 percent a year earlier, reflecting easing inflation and improving macroeconomic sentiment following Ghana’s debt restructuring programme. A newly issued seven-year bond maturing April 2033, carrying a 12.5 percent coupon, attracted GH¢3.14 billion in bids and raised GH¢2.78 billion, with secondary market trading concentrating along the short- to medium-term portion of the curve as investors gradually extended duration.
Analysts at Apakan Securities noted that activity in the final week of March was driven partly by renewed appetite for that new issuance, with turnover reaching a four-week high in a holiday-shortened period.
Corporate bonds lag government securities
Despite the market-wide rebound, the corporate bond segment moved in the opposite direction in relative terms. Corporate securities recorded a traded volume of 595.4 million in March 2026, a decline of 38.32 percent from 965.4 million in March 2025, leaving the segment with just 1.66 percent of total market activity for the month.
For the full quarter, corporate bonds accounted for 2.43 billion in traded volume and GH¢2.44 billion in value across 926 trades. While this represents an increase from 965.4 million in volume and GH¢804.7 million in value recorded in the first quarter of 2025, the segment’s share of overall market activity remained limited, with fewer than 1,000 of the quarter’s 138,925 total trades occurring in corporate paper.
Trading within the corporate segment was heavily concentrated in bonds issued by Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD). The five-year COCOBOD bond alone accounted for 440.6 million in traded volume valued at GH¢428.53 million during March, while its three- and four-year instruments contributed a further 76.1 million and 78.4 million respectively. Other corporate issuers recorded minimal activity: a five-year Bayport Financial bond recorded just 217,000 in volume for the quarter, while an Izwe Savings and Loans instrument changed hands in a single transaction valued at GH¢142,937.50.
As of March 2026, total corporate bonds outstanding on GFIM stood at GH¢8.38 billion. Of that, GH¢7.33 billion, or more than 85 percent, was attributable to COCOBOD alone. The remainder is held by a small number of financial institutions including Letshego Ghana PLC, Bayport Savings and Loans and Kasapreko PLC. Government securities outstanding exceeded GH¢340 billion by comparison.
Analysts point to both demand and supply-side factors. Investors continue to favour sovereign instruments given improved yields and stronger liquidity, while corporate issuers face higher borrowing costs and limited appetite for their paper, discouraging new issuance and entrenching the market’s narrow issuer base.
