Fidelity Bank Ghana convened a landmark Debt Capital Markets Conference on Wednesday, drawing the Bank of Ghana, the Ministry of Finance, the Ghana Stock Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Pensions Regulatory Authority and a host of institutional investors, issuers and market leaders. The gathering focused on a single, pressing question: how Ghana can convert its hard‑won macroeconomic stability into efficiently priced, long‑term capital for productive investment.
Under the theme “Lower Rates, Higher Opportunity: Unlocking Growth Through the Debt Capital Markets,” the conference marked a deliberate shift in the national conversation – from strengthening economic fundamentals to building the foundations for durable growth in the debt capital markets. Opening remarks were delivered by Julian Opuni, Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Ghana, who noted that while the past three years had focused on stabilisation, improving conditions now present a genuine opportunity. “For capital‑market participants, improving macroeconomic conditions are not an end in themselves,” Mr. Opuni said. “The practical question is how we convert macroeconomic stability into efficiently priced, long‑term capital for productive investment.”
Mr. Opuni highlighted Fidelity Bank’s own role in the market, having supported debt capital‑market transactions with an aggregate value exceeding GHS 30 billion. He stressed that a deep debt capital market is built transaction by transaction, but it develops institution by institution.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama, Governor of the Bank of Ghana. He presented data confirming the strength of Ghana’s recovery: real GDP growth reached 6.4% in the first quarter of 2026, headline inflation fell from a peak of 54.1% in December 2022 to 4.6% in July 2026, and gross international reserves stood at US$12.9 billion. He described the reopening of the domestic bond market in March, following the expiry of the three‑year restriction imposed under the Debt Exchange, as the most significant development of the year. “This is a milestone,” Dr. Asiama said, “a transition from crisis management to active, orderly debt management.”
He was clear that the true measure of a deeper market would be found not on an auction sheet, but in the tangible outcomes – a power project that was completed, a factory that expanded, a housing development that was financed, and an SME that finds room on a bank’s balance sheet because the right capital reached the right use.
Abena Amoah, Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange, reflected on the market’s decade‑long journey since the founding of the Ghana Fixed Income Market in 2015. She stressed that markets are ultimately institutions of trust built through cooperation. She noted that Ghana’s debt capital market remains heavily concentrated around sovereign issuance, with corporate securities representing only a small fraction of activity. “A market built predominantly around one issuer cannot achieve its full potential without broader private‑sector participation,” she said, calling on banks like Fidelity Bank to lead the way as issuers and as originators for their corporate clients.
The conference’s panel discussions brought a frank and forward‑looking exchange on sustaining Ghana’s gains. Veteran economist and investment consultant Kwame Pianim cautioned that macroeconomic stability must be carefully protected during the transition to growth, urging stronger institutions and the disciplined mobilisation of domestic pension and insurance funds for productive investment. Dr. Theophilus Acheampong, Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Finance, offered assurance that recent reforms – including legislated fiscal rules, an independent fiscal council and a resourced sinking fund – were designed to institutionalise stability and prevent a relapse. Panellists agreed that the credibility of issuers, the transparency of disclosures and the strength of governance structures would ultimately determine whether Ghana’s corporate debt market finally takes off.
For Fidelity Bank, convening the conference reflects a conviction that Ghana’s next phase of development depends on building a broader, deeper financing architecture, and that the country’s own institutions must lead in shaping it.
