Ghana has raised $3bn as part of a new eurobond issued on February 4. The issuance was almost five times oversubscribed and attracted around $14bn in bids. It consists of a $750m tranche with an average life of 40 years at a yield of 8.875%, the longest ever from a sub-Saharan country, accompanied by a $1bn segment with an average maturity of 14 years, yielding at 8%, and $1.25bn of debt with a…
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When the country’s central bank, the Bank of Ghana (BoG), was first granted the independence to set interest rates in 2002, it faced a turbulent economic scenario, in which the level of inflation had pushed past the 60% mark. Since that time the authority has wielded its rate-setting power to control inflation in the interests of society and the economy, each year establishing a target corridor…
Although trade flows among African states remain below their potential, an ambitious project is under way to accelerate economic integration and significantly expand intra-continental trade. Spearheaded by the African Union (AU), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement was signed in March 2018 and aims to substantially reduce both tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade.…
As a presidential and parliamentary election year, 2020 represents a key test of the government’s commitment to fiscal responsibility. The current government came to power on a platform of economic competence, promising to break the cycle of spending and debt crises that has challenged the nation’s economic progress for decades. In this regard it has already achieved a measure of success.…
Since independence in 1957, Ghana’s foreign policy has been characterised by a core set of interests and values that have remained relatively consistent. As a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, Ghana has been dedicated to maintaining positive neutrality and promoting multilateralism. As the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to declare independence, successive governments…
Ghana was an early adopter of the microfinance concept. According to the regulator, the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the first credit union was established in northern Ghana as early as 1955, introduced to the country by Canadian missionaries. A more local financing tradition, susu (where informal agents charge a small fee to hold money and provide limited credit), is thought to have spread from Nigeria…
Ghana’s fixed-income market has experienced significant growth. As of end-September 2019 domestic fixed-income securities issued on the Ghana Fixed-Income Market (GFIM) totalled GHS104bn ($20.1bn), against GHS102.4bn ($19.8bn) over the same period in 2018, marking growth of 2%. Comparatively, the equity market experienced a year-to-date decline of 5.8%, to a market capitalisation of GHS57.6bn…
The equity market experienced reduced performance in recent years, with the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) Composite Index returning -0.29% and -10.44% in 2018 and September 2019, respectively. This is down from a high of 52.37% in 2017. Market capitalisation as of end-September 2019 was GHS56.3bn ($10.9bn), down from GHS66.1bn ($12.8bn) one year earlier. The downturn in the equity market can be…
Performance in the Ghanaian life insurance market has shown mixed results. While some providers have remained profitable despite the challenging environment caused by the crisis in the banking sector (see Banking chapter), others are struggling to achieve underwriting profitability. Those that are securing a margin are doing so with the help of high levels of investment income stemming from…
