- GSE Composite Index Up 73.00% as Fixed-Income Trading Surpasses 2025 Total
Ghana’s capital markets are entering a period of renewed momentum, with equities delivering one of their strongest performances in years and fixed-income trading already exceeding the whole of 2025, according to Abena Amoah, Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange.
Speaking in closing remarks at Bayport Savings and Loans PLC’s “Facts Behind the Figures” event in Accra on August 20, Ms Amoah said the GSE Composite Index had risen 73.00% so far this year, highlighting the scale of the recovery in domestic equities.
“The Composite Index, which we thought would join soon, is up 73% so far this year. It’s up 73%. We talk about the cost of capital, but look at the returns that investors are making,” she said.
The performance provides an important counterpoint to longstanding concerns over Ghana’s cost of capital. While companies still face financing constraints, rising equity valuations improve the investment case for the domestic market and can make public listings more attractive to businesses seeking long-term capital.
Ms Amoah used the occasion to encourage Bayport’s shareholders to consider an eventual equity listing.
“So Bayport shareholders, this is a market that you can make very, very good returns on, and the Ghana community calls for the opportunity to participate and to have Bayport support this strong equity market index,” she said.
“I’m always hopeful that that equity listing will come. And I know I have all of your support for us to do that.”
Bayport has already become a recurring participant in Ghana’s debt market, having raised approximately GH¢750 million through consecutive issuances, according to remarks at the event.
For the GSE, persuading established domestic companies to move beyond bank borrowing and debt issuance towards public equity remains central to deepening the market. Ghana’s equities market has historically suffered from a relatively small number of listed companies, limited free float in some counters and low participation among sections of the population.
The current rally could therefore create a useful window for new issuers. Activity in the fixed-income market has been equally striking. Ms Amoah said securities worth GH¢281 billion had traded as of August 18, already surpassing the roughly GH¢245 billion recorded during the whole of 2025.
“On the fixed income market, as at August 18th, volume traded so far this year is 281 billion. 281 billion. All of last year, 2025, we had traded about 245 billion,” she said.
“So as at August 18th, we’ve already exceeded what we traded throughout last year.”
The figures imply that fixed-income turnover has already exceeded last year’s full-year level by about GH¢36 billion, with more than four months remaining in 2026.
That points to improving liquidity and market activity, but the composition of trading remains a concern.
Government securities continue to dominate Ghana’s fixed-income market, while corporate debt represents only a small share.
“What is missing is more corporate issuances and more liquidity in those products,” Ms Amoah said.
“Your new issuances coming to the market is welcome, but we need more corporate issuances so we can go from less than 5% of securities traded on the market to a more aggressive medium term. So we can serve more Ghanaian people.”
That imbalance matters because a market dominated by government securities can provide benchmark yields and liquidity but does relatively little to diversify financing available to private companies.
A deeper corporate bond market would allow businesses to secure longer-term funding without depending overwhelmingly on commercial banks.
It would also broaden investment options for pension funds, insurance companies, collective investment schemes and individual investors seeking instruments across different maturities and risk profiles.
Bayport’s repeated use of the debt market is therefore significant beyond the amount raised.
Regular corporate issuance helps create pricing history, familiarises investors with private-sector credit risk and demonstrates that Ghana’s domestic capital market can be a viable source of expansion capital.
The GSE is also seeing renewed activity in primary equities. Ms Amoah said the exchange had recorded three initial public offerings in six months, although her ambition had been twice that number.
“For us, on the back of six IPOs, three IPOs in six months. See my dream? It’s not the three IPOs in six months. Six IPOs in six months. That was my wish. But what we’ve actually achieved is three IPOs in six months,” she said.
She also disclosed that another company was preparing to access the debt market, with its securities expected to be listed before the end of August.
“I’m very happy to inform all of you that we have another company, a new issuer, that is also accessing debt capital markets, and we are looking forward to listing their issuance before the end of August,” she said.
For the GSE, the combination of strong equity returns, record-paced fixed-income turnover, renewed IPO activity and fresh corporate issuance suggests confidence is returning to the market.
But the harder test will be whether the current momentum produces structural depth.
A rising index can attract attention, but sustainable capital-market development requires more listed companies, broader sector representation, stronger liquidity and a deeper supply of corporate securities.
The fixed-income figures reinforce the same point. GH¢281 billion in turnover is impressive, but if most trading remains concentrated in sovereign instruments, the market’s role in financing productive private investment will remain limited.
That is why Ms Amoah’s call for more corporate issuance is important. A deeper corporate bond market would help channel domestic savings towards businesses, infrastructure and expansion projects, while also reducing the economy’s heavy dependence on bank credit and government securities.
“For me, all of this is a testament that the GSE, the confidence in our market is growing, and we have become a market for capital to all,” Ms Amoah said.
Her message to Bayport therefore reflects a wider ambition for Ghana’s capital market.
Companies that have already tapped debt investors should increasingly consider public equity not simply as another source of funding, but as a way to broaden ownership, improve visibility and allow ordinary Ghanaians to participate in corporate growth.
“Thank you for helping us to build this market. And we wish Bayport Savings and Loans PLC success in the months ahead,” Ms Amoah concluded. “God bless Ghana’s capital markets.”
The next phase of Ghana’s capital-market recovery will therefore be judged less by how high the index rises and more by whether the current confidence can be converted into new listings, deeper corporate issuance and a broader investor base.
That is what would turn a strong market year into a more durable transformation of Ghana’s financing architecture.
