Trading activity on Ghana's Fixed Income Market (GFIM) surged by 102.65% in August 2026, reaching a total value of GHS 43.20 billion. This substantial increase from GHS 21.32 billion in August 2025 highlights a significant acceleration in the country's debt market.
The market recorded a trading volume of GHS 48.99 billion during August, a 104.77% jump from GHS 23.92 billion in the same period last year. This growth was primarily due to heavy investor concentration in government instruments, while corporate securities saw comparatively thin activity. The number of trades also increased by 153.34% to 36,124, indicating heightened market engagement.
This expansion extends a robust year for Ghana’s secondary fixed-income market. Between January and August 2026, cumulative trading volume reached GHS 304.76 billion, marking a 100.41% increase from GHS 152.07 billion in the comparable 2025 period. This cumulative volume has already surpassed every full-year total reported by GFIM since its inception, including the GHS 245.85 billion recorded for all of 2025. This trend underscores a growing appetite for fixed-income investments in Ghana, particularly in government debt.
Government securities overwhelmingly drove this increase. Government notes and bonds accounted for 52.77% of the total volume, with Treasury bills contributing another 45.98%. This left corporate instruments with a mere 1.25% share of market activity. This composition highlights the depth of Ghana's fixed-income market for sovereign debt but also its significant concentration.
The divergence between government and corporate activity was particularly stark in August. Government securities accounted for GHS 48.83 billion of the GHS 48.99 billion total volume. In contrast, corporate securities generated only GHS 155.14 million in volume. This pattern was consistent in traded value, with government securities producing GHS 43.04 billion against GHS 161.39 million from corporates.
Strong secondary-market activity improves liquidity and price discovery for government debt. However, the limited share of corporate securities illustrates a significant challenge for market development. The market still needs to evolve before private issuers become a meaningful alternative source of long-term financing for businesses. Corporate activity was not only small but also weaker than a year earlier, with corporate securities volume falling from GHS 885.69 million in August 2025 to GHS 155.14 million in August 2026.
Treasury bills remained a major driver of trading, especially the 364-day instrument. In August alone, the 364-day bill recorded GHS 16.70 billion in volume and GHS 15.43 billion in traded value. Longer-dated government bonds were also active, with the eight-year bond generating GHS 7.17 billion in volume. The government securities market is also being reshaped by lower yields compared to a year earlier across much of the curve. The 91-day Treasury bill yield stood at 4.92% in August 2026, down from 10.94% in 2025. This decline in yields reduces the government's marginal domestic borrowing costs.
The implications for investors are more complex. Falling yields generally support the prices of existing fixed-rate securities. However, new investors receive lower nominal returns, increasing the importance of inflation expectations and careful portfolio positioning. Ghana’s longer-term challenge is to convert the visible liquidity and institutional participation in GFIM into a broader market. This broader market must be capable of supporting corporate investment and expanding credit opportunities for private businesses beyond just government financing.