- Large Institutional Trades Drive Sharp Increase in Ghana Bond-Market Turnover
Trading activity on the Ghana Fixed Income Market rose sharply on October 21, with total turnover reaching GH¢3.10 billion as investors committed larger amounts to Domestic Debt Exchange Programme bonds and Treasury bills.
The session represented a 47.5 per cent increase over the GH¢2.10 billion recorded on October 20, extending strong secondary-market activity across government securities. The increase, however, came with a striking change in market structure: the number of transactions fell to 702 from 1,993.
This combination of higher turnover and fewer trades suggests that activity was driven by larger institutional transactions rather than a broad increase in dealing frequency. Average value per transaction rose to approximately GH¢4.41 million from GH¢1.05 million, an increase of more than fourfold.
The result matters because headline turnover alone can overstate the depth of a market. A session may record billions of cedis in activity, but if that value is concentrated in a handful of large transactions, liquidity may remain uneven across instruments and maturities.
DDEP bonds remained the market’s largest segment, generating GH¢1.60 billion from 94 trades. Turnover rose 38.9 per cent from GH¢1.16 billion on October 20 and represented 51.8 per cent of total market activity.
The February 2031 DDEP bond carrying an 8.95 per cent coupon was the most actively traded security, accounting for GH¢543 million across only four transactions. It represented 33.8 per cent of DDEP turnover and 17.5 per cent of total GFIM activity.
The bond’s closing yield eased marginally to 14.29 per cent from an opening level of 14.35 per cent, while its closing price settled at 83.1595. The yield movement indicates modest buying support, although the small number of transactions again points to institutional block activity rather than widely distributed demand.
Interest extended along the middle and longer portions of the DDEP curve. The February 2032 bond recorded GH¢467.07 million across 18 trades and closed at a yield of 14.58 per cent, unchanged from its opening level. The February 2030 security generated GH¢278.24 million from 51 transactions, with its yield rising to 14.45 per cent from 14.12 per cent.
The contrasting movements show that demand was selective rather than uniform. Investors were willing to take substantial positions, but price discovery differed by maturity. The increase in the 2030 yield implies some selling pressure or a demand for additional return, while the modest decline in the 2031 yield points to stronger support for that instrument.
Treasury bills provided the second major source of turnover. Activity increased 49.4 per cent to GH¢1.39 billion from GH¢928.14 million and accounted for 44.7 per cent of total market turnover.
The largest bill transaction involved the instrument maturing on December 7, 2026. It recorded GH¢301.51 million across nine trades and closed at a yield of 5.8032 per cent. That single instrument contributed 21.7 per cent of Treasury-bill turnover and 9.7 per cent of the entire session.
Other heavily traded bills included the January 11, 2027 maturity, which attracted GH¢242.33 million, and the March 8, 2027 maturity, which recorded GH¢195.38 million. The January 18, 2027 bill generated GH¢133.07 million.
The pattern suggests investors continued to value short-term government instruments for liquidity management, even at yields below those available on medium-term DDEP bonds. Treasury bills offer shorter duration and greater certainty over capital recovery, making them useful for institutions managing near-term cash obligations.
The yield curve across the bills remained shaped by time to maturity. Very short-dated securities carried elevated annualised yields because only days remained before redemption, while instruments around January 2027 traded close to the mid-single digits. Later 2027 maturities generally offered progressively higher yields.
Trading also returned to newly issued government bonds. The seven-year bond maturing in March 2033 recorded GH¢12.46 million across two transactions after the segment registered no turnover on October 20. Its closing yield rose to 14.04 per cent from 12.82 per cent, indicating that investors required a materially higher return to transact.
Sell-and-buy-back activity increased more than fivefold to GH¢85.13 million from GH¢15.39 million. The February 2027 DDEP bond dominated that segment, accounting for GH¢51.55 million across nine trades at a yield of 8.35 per cent.
The rise in these transactions is important because repurchase-style activity helps institutions obtain short-term liquidity using government securities as collateral. Increased volumes can therefore signal active balance-sheet and cash management rather than outright changes in long-term investment exposure.
Corporate bond turnover also improved, rising to GH¢9.59 million from GH¢1.90 million. The segment nevertheless represented only 0.31 per cent of total market activity, highlighting the continuing dominance of sovereign instruments.
Ghana Cocoa Board securities accounted for all reported corporate bond turnover.
Commercial-paper turnover increased to GH¢200,000 from GH¢124,077, but remained negligible relative to government securities. The Cocoa Capital instrument maturing in June 2027 was the only commercial paper traded. No activity was recorded in green and sustainable bonds.
Overall, government-related instruments, including conventional bonds, DDEP securities, Treasury bills and sell-and-buy-back trades, represented approximately 99.7 per cent of turnover. That concentration confirms the GFIM’s effectiveness as a venue for government-debt liquidity but also exposes the limited scale of private-sector fixed-income financing.
The immediate outlook is for activity to remain centred on DDEP bonds and Treasury bills. Investors are likely to continue balancing the higher yields available further along the curve against the liquidity and lower duration risk offered by bills.
The October 21 session showed that liquidity can expand rapidly when large investors reposition portfolios. Yet the decline in transaction count and concentration in a few instruments mean the turnover surge should be interpreted carefully. A deeper market will require sustained trading across more securities, maturities and issuers, not merely larger blocks passing between institutions.
