Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is accelerating efforts to reform the country’s capital market and broaden access to private sector investment following the disruption caused by the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), a senior official said on Monday.
Speaking on TV3’s Business Focus on March 23, 2026, the Deputy Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) outlined steps the regulator is taking to diversify investment products and channel more funds toward the private sector, as the broader economy continues its recovery from the 2022 debt crisis.
The push comes as Ghana’s financial sector gradually regains stability. The Bank of Ghana (BoG) reported that the capital adequacy ratio for the banking sector reached 17.5 percent in December 2025, converging to the same level with or without temporary regulatory relief measures that had shielded banks from the worst fallout of the DDEP.
Ghana officially re-entered the domestic bond market in March 2026, following the expiration of a three-year restriction under the DDEP, marking a strategic pivot away from short-term treasury bill financing toward longer-dated instruments at lower rates.
The SEC has been a central actor in post-DDEP reconstruction. In March 2026, the regulator issued the Securities Industry (Regulatory Sandbox Licencing) Guidelines 2026, creating a structured framework that allows innovative capital market products and services to be tested in a controlled environment, a move welcomed by industry stakeholders as a sign of renewed regulatory momentum.
First Atlantic Bank’s listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) in December 2025, through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) that raised 786 million cedis, ended a seven-year IPO drought on the exchange, with analysts suggesting the successful listing could encourage more companies to pursue public offerings in 2026.
Despite these signals of recovery, market watchers caution that challenges persist. Pension fund assets on the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM) have grown to over 90 billion cedis, yet many institutional investors continue to favour treasury bills over longer-dated bonds, reflecting lingering caution from the DDEP experience and concerns about future policy consistency.
The SEC’s reform agenda forms part of the government’s broader push to restore investor confidence and deepen Ghana’s capital market following one of the most turbulent periods in the country’s financial history.
