Ghana’s fixed income market recorded over one billion cedis in trading activity Friday as sell and buyback transactions dominated the session, highlighting how institutional investors are increasingly using repurchase agreements for short term liquidity management.
The Ghana Fixed Income Market processed 1.04 billion cedis across 346 trades on October 17, 2025, with repo style transactions accounting for 448.07 million cedis of that total. This concentration in sell and buyback trades, which allow investors to generate temporary cash while maintaining exposure to government securities, represented 43 percent of the day’s activity and signals sophisticated portfolio management strategies at work.
Treasury bills maintained their customary dominance, attracting 294.90 million cedis through 246 separate transactions. But it’s the repo market’s resurgence that tells the more interesting story about liquidity conditions in Ghana’s financial system. After several recent sessions where repo activity remained dormant or minimal, Friday’s surge suggests institutions may be adjusting their funding strategies or responding to specific end of week cash requirements.
The largest single transaction occurred in the government bond maturing February 2, 2038, which generated 203.42 million cedis in sell and buyback volume across 20 trades. That long dated security, carrying a 10 percent coupon, traded at a yield of 13.94 percent and price of 77.07 cedis per 100 face value. The substantial discount to par reflects how yields have shifted since issuance, making older bonds trade below their nominal values.
New government bonds contributed 285.82 million cedis through 46 transactions, with the most actively traded being the February 2027 maturity. That security recorded 111.49 million cedis in volume at a yield of 14.92 percent, demonstrating continued investor appetite for medium term government debt despite yields that remain elevated by historical standards.
What’s particularly noteworthy is how Friday’s repo activity contrasts with recent market patterns. Earlier this week, several sessions showed zero repo transactions, leading market observers to question whether institutions had shifted away from these liquidity management tools. Friday’s data suggests the answer is more nuanced: repo markets remain active but show significant day to day volatility based on institutional needs and market conditions.
Treasury bill trading spanned all standard tenors, though specific maturity details weren’t highlighted in Friday’s summary. The 294.90 million cedi volume across 246 trades indicates relatively broad participation, with an average transaction size of roughly 1.2 million cedis. That suggests a mix of smaller institutional trades rather than a few jumbo transactions dominating the segment.
Old government bonds, those issued before Ghana’s 2023 debt restructuring, saw minimal activity with just 1.50 million cedis traded in a single transaction. The security in question, maturing June 12, 2028, yielded 19.05 percent and traded at 97.99 cedis. That near par pricing combined with the elevated yield reflects the complexity of these legacy instruments, which carry different credit characteristics than the new bonds created through the debt exchange program.
Corporate bond activity remained thin but present. Cocobod securities generated 2.51 million cedis across six trades, with the August 2027 maturity bond trading at 98.04 cedis. The state owned commodity marketing board continues to be virtually the only corporate issuer attracting secondary market interest, underscoring the persistent challenges facing Ghana’s corporate debt market.
Bank of Ghana bills contributed 10 million cedis in a single transaction, rounding out the day’s activity across all fixed income categories. These central bank instruments serve monetary policy purposes and provide additional short term investment options, though they typically see less active trading than treasury bills.
The yield environment Friday continued reflecting the elevated rate structure that has characterized Ghana’s fixed income market throughout 2025. Government bonds traded in a range from roughly 13.94 percent to 19.05 percent depending on maturity and security vintage, while corporate bonds showed similar pricing dynamics.
For portfolio managers, Friday’s activity demonstrates the toolkit available for managing both investment returns and liquidity needs. The ability to enter repo transactions using government bonds as collateral provides flexibility that pure buy and hold strategies cannot match. Institutions can maintain their desired interest rate exposure while generating cash for operational needs or temporary rebalancing.
However, the volatility in repo market volumes from session to session suggests this segment hasn’t achieved the consistent depth seen in more developed fixed income markets. Days with 448 million cedis in repo activity followed by sessions with zero volume indicate that Ghana’s repo market remains opportunistic rather than systematically deep.
The broader context matters for interpreting Friday’s numbers. Ghana’s fixed income market has shown remarkable resilience following the country’s 2023 debt restructuring, with regular billion cedi plus trading sessions demonstrating that investors remain engaged despite the economic challenges that necessitated the restructuring in the first place.
What remains unclear is whether current yield levels adequately compensate investors for the risks inherent in Ghanaian sovereign and quasi sovereign debt. Double digit returns look attractive on paper, but they also signal that markets perceive meaningful credit risk or expect currency depreciation that could erode real returns for cedi denominated investors.
The concentration of activity in government securities, representing well over 90 percent of Friday’s volume when combining direct trades and repo transactions, also highlights an ongoing development challenge. Corporate bond markets need greater depth to provide businesses with alternatives to bank lending, yet institutional investors consistently favor the liquidity and perceived safety of government paper.
Looking ahead, market participants will watch whether repo activity maintains Friday’s momentum or returns to the sporadic patterns seen earlier in the week. Consistent repo market depth would enhance overall market functioning by providing flexible funding options and improving price discovery across the yield curve.
Friday’s session closed out what appears to have been another solid week for Ghana’s fixed income market, with government securities continuing to attract consistent investor interest and yields remaining elevated but stable. Whether these patterns persist as 2025 enters its final quarter will depend partly on macroeconomic developments and partly on institutional portfolio allocation decisions that can shift quickly based on relative value assessments.
For now, the message from Friday’s billion cedi trading session is clear: Ghana’s fixed income market continues functioning effectively for government securities, repo markets remain active though volatile, and corporate bonds still struggle for sustained traction despite modest Cocobod activity. That mixed picture reflects both progress since the debt restructuring and ongoing challenges in developing truly diverse, liquid fixed income markets.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
