Government of Ghana re-enters Domestic Bond market with 7yr Treasury Bond

Ghana’s Ministry of Finance officially announced the expiration of restrictions on new domestic bond issuance, describing it as a major milestone in its fiscal recovery. The three-year restriction was imposed in 2023 to prevent the government from issuing new bonds following the debt default that preceded the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

The first re-entry is a 7-year cedi-denominated bond, marketed from March 30 to April 1, 2026, with settlement on April 7 — the government’s first return to the medium- to long-term domestic debt market since suspending such issuances during the DDEP

Bond structure and access

The bonds carry tenors to be announced per auction, with interest paid semi-annually. Six institutions have been appointed as Bond Market Specialists: Absa Bank Ghana, CalBank, Fincap Securities, GCB Bank, One Africa Securities, and Stanbic Bank Ghana – and investors must access the issuance through these intermediaries.

The macro backdrop

Following the restructuring of roughly $13 billion in Eurobonds and $18 billion in domestic debt, yields have declined from around 28% to near 14%. Inflation has moderated to around 3.3% and Ghana recorded growth of approximately 5.5% in Q3 2025.

What is Senior Unsecured Treasury Bonds

Senior Unsecured Treasury Bonds is a bit of a hybrid term. Let me unpack each part:
Treasury Bonds are debt securities issued by a national government to finance government spending. When you buy one, you’re lending money to the government, and they pay you back with interest (called the coupon) over a fixed period, then return your principal at maturity.

“Senior Unsecured” is terminology more common in corporate debt, but it applies to government bonds too:

Senior means these bondholders get paid before subordinated/junior creditors if the issuer defaults. In practice, government treasuries are already the safest obligation a sovereign government has.

Key features of Treasury bonds:

• Fixed coupon payments, typically semi-annual
• Maturities generally range from 10 to 30 years (shorter-term equivalents are T-notes and T-bills)
• Highly liquid — among the most traded securities in the world
• Considered virtually risk-free for domestic-currency sovereign issuers (like the US), since a government can theoretically always print money to repay
• Interest is typically exempt from state and local taxes (in the US)

Why “senior unsecured” matters more in context: This phrase comes up most often when comparing government bonds to corporate bonds. A corporate bond can be senior secured (backed by assets), senior unsecured, or subordinated. Treasury bonds sit above all of these in terms of safety, since sovereign default risk is considered extremely low.

DOMESTIC BOND PROGRAMME CIRCULAR 26th March 2026