The Ghanaian Cedi has been ranked by Reuters publications as the weakest-performing currency in West Africa and among the weakest in sub-Saharan Africa in recent weeks.
According to Reuters, citing market data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), reported that the Ghana cedi had recently emerged as the worst-performing currency in West Africa and among the weakest in sub-Saharan Africa in recent weeks.
The cedi has suffered a steady decline so far in 2026, thereby assuming the unenviable position of the worst-performing currency in West Africa on a year-to-date basis.
“Ghana’s cedi is being dragged down by persistent corporate foreign-currency demand, particularly from the energy sector,” the Reuters report said, showing trends of consistent decline of the cedi in recent weeks using data from LSEG.
“The report predicted further decline in the weeks ahead and, true to the prediction, the slump continued, as the cedi closed trading last week at a further depreciated rate of 11.61 to the dollar, maintaining its high year-to-date percentage decline among West African currencies.
The cedi is one of nine currencies in West Africa, including the CFA franc, which is used by eight West African countries.
Among the currencies in West Africa, the cedi has so far, in 2026, recorded the biggest year-to-date decline of 10.28% as of the beginning of May, which also places it among some of the continent’s worst-performing currencies in 2026, such as the Libyan dinar, which recorded a 17.21% decline against the US dollar”, reports stated.
In related news, the May 2026 Economic and Financial Summary released by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has disclosed that the Ghana cedi depreciated by 8.4% against the US dollar during the first five months of 2026.
The decline higher than the 6.6% depreciation recorded over the same period in 2025.
The BoG May 2026 Economic and Financial Summary shows renewed pressure on the local currency despite improvements in several key macroeconomic indicators.
The BoG data disclosed that the cedi weakened from an average mid-rate of 10.95 to the dollar in January to 11.4125 by mid-May 2026.
“The currency came under pressure early in the year, recording a year-to-date depreciation of 4.6 per cent in January before briefly recovering in February”, citinews stated.
The Ghana cedi resumed its downward trend in March and continued deteriorating steadily through April and May.
However, unlike the sharp volatility witnessed in 2025, the 2026 depreciation pattern has been steadier and more sustained.
The Ghana cedi’s decline comes despite relatively bright external fundamentals.
However, despite the persistent slide of the local currency, the economic and data analyst, Alfred Appiah, maintains that there is little reason for panic.
According to Alfred Appiah, while the recent depreciation of the cedi may appear worrying on the surface, Ghana’s foreign exchange fundamentals remain relatively supported.
He pointed particularly by strong gold prices and continued gold purchases under the government’s Goldbod programme.
Alfred Appiah argued that the country is not facing an immediate foreign exchange supply crisis despite the cedi’s recent weakness against the US dollar.
“No need to panic about the current movements in the exchange rate,” he remarked.
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