Trading on Ghana’s bond market picked up last week, with activity jumping by over 25%. The total value of bonds traded rose from GHS1.23 billion to GHS1.41 billion, showing growing interest from investors.
Ghana’s secondary bonds market is where people and institutions buy and sell government bonds that have already been issued, rather than buying them directly from the government.
According to Databank Research, the most traded bond was one that matures in February 2027. It made up about a third of all trades and offered an average return (or yield) of 20%.
Most of the trading happened in short-term bonds—those that will be paid back soon—which made up 60% of the market activity. These also offered an average return of 20%. The rest of the trading involved medium- to long-term bonds, which gave slightly higher returns of about 21.3%.
Even though more bonds were being bought and sold, prices dropped a bit, which caused returns to rise slightly. This usually happens when investors are being careful, possibly due to uncertainty about the economy.
Looking ahead, experts believe trading could pick up even more in the coming weeks. This is partly because banks often adjust their investment portfolios at the end of the month, which tends to boost market activity.