Ghana’s fixed income market closed a shortened trading week on Thursday with GH¢7.77 billion in total volume across Monday to Thursday, March 2 to 5, 2026, as a dramatic surge in corporate bond activity and sustained institutional demand for government securities defined the four-day period ahead of the Independence Day holiday.
The week’s total represented a 16.54 percent decline from GH¢9.31 billion recorded the previous week, driven primarily by a sharp pullback in treasury bill volume and a near-complete exit from old Government of Ghana (GoG) notes and bonds. New GoG bonds and notes held broadly steady at GH¢2.93 billion for the week, down just 1.65 percent from GH¢2.98 billion the prior week. Sell and buyback trades settled at GH¢1.71 billion, down 16.6 percent week on week.
The standout movement of the week was in corporate bonds, which recorded GH¢422.78 million in volume, a 16.8-fold increase compared to GH¢23.72 million the previous week. Ghana Cocoa Board (CMB) bonds anchored that segment, with its August 28, 2028, bond alone attracting GH¢150 million in single-day institutional demand on Thursday at a closing price of 96.14 cedis. The scale of the CMB activity suggests a coordinated institutional reallocation into corporate paper, a relatively uncommon occurrence on the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM), where government instruments typically command the near-entirety of traded volume.
Treasury bills recorded GH¢2.71 billion for the week, a 36.4 percent fall from GH¢4.26 billion the prior week, though they remained the highest-volume instrument class. The 364-day segment was the most active tenor throughout the four days, with individual instruments maturing between February and March 2027 generating the largest single-session contributions on both Monday and Thursday.
The yield curve for new GoG bonds ended the week with mixed signals across the tenor spectrum. Short-end yields were largely unchanged, with the 4-year closing at 9.11 percent versus 9.10 percent the prior week. The 5-year yield fell to 10.37 percent from 11.95 percent, the sharpest compression of the week, reflecting strong demand for that tenor. Further out, the 7-year rose marginally to 12.07 percent from 11.92 percent, while the 11-year declined sharply to 12.87 percent from 15.99 percent, suggesting renewed appetite for longer duration among select institutional accounts. The 8-year, 9-year, 13-year, 14-year, and 15-year tenors were broadly flat.
By volume within new GoG bonds, the 4-year tenor dominated at GH¢744.12 billion, more than double the GH¢319.67 million recorded the prior week. The 7-year and 9-year tenors were also active at GH¢706.60 million and GH¢693.32 million respectively. By contrast, the 14-year tenor recorded zero volume this week after GH¢254.79 million the prior week, and the 15-year fell to GH¢1.03 million from GH¢315.87 million, indicating sharp tactical rotation away from the longest available new-series maturities.
Old GoG bonds effectively fell silent, recording only GH¢21,908 in volume across four trades for the entire week compared to GH¢263,718 the prior week. The week’s lone notable trade in the old series was a 10-year legacy bond maturing November 2, 2026, where yields spiked to 30.03 percent on Thursday, reflecting deep discounting on pre-restructuring instruments approaching final maturity.
The GFIM is closed on Friday, March 6, 2026, for Ghana’s Independence Day public holiday. Trading resumes on Monday, March 9.
