- Ghana’s Fixed-Income Market Posts 958 million in Volume, But Activity Remains Concentrated
Ghana’s fixed-income market recorded 958.30 million in trading volume across 380 transactions on Thursday, November 5, with treasury bills and Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) bonds accounting for 94.58 per cent of activity.
The aggregate points to a busy session, but the underlying transactions were concentrated in a small number of securities. One DDEP bond and one treasury bill together accounted for 617.70 million in volume, or about 64.46 per cent of the market total.
The day’s headline figure therefore reflects substantial trading in selected instruments, rather than equally broad activity across the fixed-income market.
Treasury bills led by volume, recording 485.96 million across 289 trades. DDEP bonds followed with 420.43 million in 29 transactions. Together, the two segments generated 906.39 million in reported volume.
The bill market accounted for most of the transaction count, while DDEP activity was much larger on a per-trade basis.
That contrast suggests different patterns of participation. Treasury bills changed hands frequently across maturities, while trading in DDEP bonds was concentrated in a few issues.
The largest DDEP transaction was in the 2023-GC-3 bond, maturing in February 2029, which recorded 354.47 million over 15 trades. That single instrument represented 84.31 per cent of DDEP volume and 36.99 per cent of total market volume.
The largest treasury-bill trade was in a Government of Ghana bill maturing in September 2027. It recorded 263.23 million in three trades, equal to 54.17 per cent of all treasury-bill volume.
The fact that one security contributed more than half of bill trading reinforces the need to look beyond total activity when assessing the market’s depth.
The pricing data also show varying yields across the instruments that traded. The largest DDEP issue closed at a yield of 14.22 per cent. Other traded DDEP bonds included a 2028 issue at 12.57 per cent, a 2030 issue at 14.57 per cent, a 2032 issue at 14.52 per cent and a 2038 issue at 15.45 per cent.
These individual yields reflect the terms and market pricing of specific bonds; they should not be read as a single borrowing rate for government.
On the treasury-bill side, the September 2027 instrument with the day’s largest volume closed at a yield of 9.15 per cent. The different yields across bills and bonds reflect, among other factors, their maturities, cash-flow structures and market prices.
The trading sheet records activity in the secondary market; it does not by itself establish the government’s cost of issuing new debt.
Trading in the newer Government of Ghana notes and bonds was limited to 496,200 in volume across two transactions.
The four-year bond maturing in 2030 closed at a yield of 11.35 per cent, while the seven-year bond maturing in 2033 closed at 12.60 per cent. The modest turnover means these prices provide only a narrow indication of demand in those securities on the day.
Sell-and-buyback transactions in Government of Ghana notes and bonds reached 45.45 million across 48 trades. These transactions formed a distinct part of the day’s activity, alongside outright purchases and sales.
Their presence points to another channel through which market participants manage funding and securities positions, though the report does not identify counterparties or the purpose of individual transactions.
Corporate bonds recorded 4.97 million in volume across 10 trades, all in a Ghana Cocoa Board bond maturing in August 2028. Its closing price was 103.18. Commercial paper recorded 1 million in two trades, in Cocoa Capital’s note maturing in June 2027. The narrow range of corporate and short-term issuer activity contrasts with the much larger volumes in government securities.
There was no reported trading in old Government of Ghana notes and bonds or green and sustainable bonds. No activity in a category on one trading day does not establish that investors lack interest in those instruments, but it does show that they did not contribute to the day’s recorded turnover.
The figures invite two different readings. The first is that the market is functioning: 380 transactions took place, treasury bills were traded across many lines, and DDEP bonds and buybacks generated significant activity.
The second is that liquidity remains uneven. More than half of bill volume sat in one instrument, and more than four-fifths of DDEP volume was concentrated in one bond.
That concentration matters for investors and policymakers. A large aggregate can suggest a deep market, but depth is better tested by how much can be traded across a range of securities without relying on a handful of benchmark issues.
When activity clusters in a few instruments, investors may find it harder to transact in less frequently traded bonds or to establish reliable prices for them.
The session also shows why volume and value should be distinguished. The report provides volumes and transaction counts by security, but does not present a separate consolidated value-traded figure in its summary.
The total of 958.30 million therefore describes reported trading volume, not a separately stated cash-value measure.
For the next sessions, the key indicator will be whether activity broadens beyond the largest bill and DDEP issue. More consistent trading across corporate bonds, commercial paper and sustainable instruments would give investors a wider set of price references and financing options.
Thursday’s figures show a lively market in selected government securities, but breadth not the headline total alone will determine how far that activity signals deeper liquidity.
