Ghana Fixed Income Market turnover climbed to GH¢2.54 billion on Friday, August 21, 2026, with trading heavily concentrated in government securities and bonds created under the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme.
The official GFIM trading report showed total market volume of GH¢2.5449 billion across 1,159 transactions.
DDEP bonds generated GH¢1.4193 billion, Treasury bills contributed GH¢929.44 million, while sell and buy back transactions involving Government of Ghana securities added GH¢196.15 million.
There was no trading in corporate bonds, new Government of Ghana notes and bonds or the old government bond category.
That left the restructured sovereign debt market firmly in charge of Friday's session.
DDEP Bonds Take More Than Half of Trading
DDEP securities accounted for approximately 55.77% of total market activity, compared with 36.52% for Treasury bills and 7.71% for sell and buy back transactions.
More than three years after Ghana's domestic debt exchange reshaped the local sovereign debt market, the numbers show just how central the restructured bonds have become to secondary market liquidity.
DDEP activity was spread across 95 transactions, although the money was not evenly distributed across the yield curve.
The February 2030 bond, identified as GOG-BD-12/02/30-A6146-1838-8.80, stood out. When outright and sell and buy back transactions were combined, the security recorded approximately GH¢379.48 million across 37 trades.
In the outright DDEP market alone, it generated GH¢309.64 million across 12 transactions, ending the session at a yield of 14.17% and a price of about GH¢85.59.
The February 2031 bond was another major attraction, recording GH¢282.93 million across 33 transactions. It closed at a yield of 14.45% and a price of roughly GH¢82.27.
Investors Active Along Selected DDEP Maturities
Demand was also visible elsewhere on the restructured government bond curve.
The February 2027 DDEP instrument recorded GH¢280.17 million in trading volume, while the February 2029 bond generated GH¢198.04 million. Another GH¢186.93 million was recorded in the February 2032 security.
The pattern is telling. Liquidity remains available, but investors are concentrating activity in selected DDEP maturities rather than spreading transactions broadly across all available government securities.
That concentration has become an important feature of the post restructuring fixed income market.
Treasury Bills Generate GH¢929m
Treasury bills remained the second major pillar of Friday's trading, recording GH¢929.44 million across 1,002 transactions.
The Government of Ghana bill maturing on February 22, 2027 emerged as the largest by value, attracting GH¢310.79 million across 12 transactions. It closed with a yield of approximately 7.44% and a price of GH¢96.36.
The 364 day bill maturing January 18, 2027 was particularly active by transaction count, recording 511 trades worth GH¢125.63 million.
Other notable volumes included GH¢89.88 million in the July 19, 2027 bill, GH¢85.96 million in the June 28, 2027 instrument and GH¢55.20 million in the bill maturing July 26, 2027.
Secondary market yields varied across maturities. Bills closer to maturity generally traded differently from longer dated instruments, reflecting their remaining life and market pricing conditions.
Sell and Buy Back Deals Add GH¢196m
Sell and buy back transactions contributed another GH¢196.15 million across 62 trades.
The February 2030 DDEP bond again led activity, generating GH¢69.84 million across 25 transactions at a reported yield of 13.26% and a weighted average closing price of approximately GH¢87.86.
The February 2029 security followed with GH¢66.48 million, while the February 2032 bond contributed GH¢30.25 million.
The repeated appearance of these securities across outright and repurchase style transactions reinforces the concentration of liquidity around a relatively narrow group of government instruments.
Corporate Bond Market Records No Trades
Perhaps the quieter story from Friday's session was the complete absence of corporate bond trading.
The GFIM lists corporate securities from issuers including Letshego Ghana, Bayport Savings and Loans, Ghana Cocoa Board, Izwe Savings and Loans, Kasapreko and Quantum. None recorded trading volume during the session.
The contrast with government securities was stark.
More than 92% of Friday's market activity came from outright DDEP bonds and Treasury bills alone. Once sell and buy back transactions are included, the entire GH¢2.54 billion turnover was effectively concentrated in sovereign instruments.
Friday's headline number therefore shows an active fixed income market, but also exposes its narrow base.
For the GFIM, generating billions of cedis in turnover is one measure of activity. Building deeper liquidity across corporate debt and a broader mix of government securities remains the harder task if Ghana's fixed income market is to become less dependent on sovereign debt trading.
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