Ghana overtook Egypt with the highest interest rates among 15 top African countries.
According to the Weekly Fixed Income Update compiled by some investment firms, the rates of about 24.39% and 26.03% for the 91-day and 182-day treasury bills were the highest among these top African economies.
Despite the rates falling significantly in March 2023 due to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, they have gone up consistently to almost 30% (364-day bill) since then, and are also classified among the highest globally. The 91-day bill and 182-day bill have fallen by 10.97% and 9.95% since March 2023.
Again, average lending rates hovering around 38% ranks Ghana among the highest on the African continent.
Most analysts have predicted a rise in interest rates in the coming week, as the government seeks more liquidity to finance its projects. This is coming on the back of competitive yields on the Bank of Ghana’s Open Market Operations bills.
Indeed, the relentless pace of inflation has stretched real returns on short-term securities down into negative territory.
It is unclear whether the Bank of Ghana will increase its Monetary Policy Rate from the current 29.5%, to help mop up excess liquidity in circulation to control inflation, though some analysts have argued that any such move may affect the real sector of the economy.
Meanwhile, Egypt followed Ghana closely with a 91-day Treasury bill rate of 23.41%, whilst the 182-day T-bill is going for 24.02%.
Its currency – the Egyptian Pound – has also been recording rapid depreciation to the dollar.
Seychelles has the lowest interest rates of about 0.95% among the top African countries and is followed by Nigeria with 2.87%.
TOP AFRICAN COUNTRIES WITH HIGH INTEREST RATES
| COUNTRY | INTEREST RATE (91-DAY BILL) | RANKING |
| Ghana | 24.39% | 1st |
| Egypt | 23.41% | 2nd |
| Malawi | 13.00% | 3rd |
| Kenya | 12.91% | 4th |