What is the SADEREA Notes Exchange? Ghana’s Debt Decoded

Debt exchange is a hard thing. Going back to tell the ones you borrowed from that you cannot pay back and asking them to accept new repayment terms is truly not easy. What’s more, we don’t borrow from one source, but from different sources. Thus, even though we have renegotiated some of our debt, there are still some we need to finish with. 

What is happening now? 

According to a statement released to the public, the government has said they have now come close to completing the Negotiations of the external debt exchange program with the exchange of outstanding SADEREA notes. What is that? What does it have to do with this whole debt exchange program, and what does it mean for you?

What are the Saderea notes?

Back in 2009, Ghana needed to build hospitals. Rather than paying for construction upfront, Ghana worked with Euroget, a construction and project-finance company, where the contractor finances the project, and the government repays them over time. In return, Ghana issued Euroget promissory notes, which are essentially written promises to pay a specific amount of money, either on demand or at a set date.

Promissory notes are generally less liquid than publicly traded bonds. This means that in the case where you need cash urgently, the note can’t be sold on to other investors. With a bond, you can always sell it to another investor and get your money back. 

That’s where Saderea Limited comes in. In 2014, Saderea, a company created in Ireland, issued bonds using the promissory notes as collateral. It was able to raise $253.2 million from international investors by issuing bonds. It used that money to buy Ghana’s promissory notes from Euroget. 

What does this have to do with the exchange program?

When Ghana was unable to pay its debts in December 2022 and entered its IMF-backed recovery program, the SADEREA bonds, like Ghana’s Eurobonds and other external debts, needed to be restructured too. By January 2026, Ghana was left with about $117.8 million of the original $253.2 million to pay back. On 13 July 2026, Ghana completed an exchange with SADEREA bondholders: they gave up their old bonds and received new Ghanaian government notes that will be repaid gradually through 2035 and 2037, instead of the original 2026 deadline. The Ministry of Finance says this closes out the last remaining piece of Ghana’s sovereign bonded external debt restructuring 

How does this affect me?

This is good news. It spreads Ghana’s repayments over a longer period instead of requiring large payments all at once. That eases pressure on government finances in the short term. Over time, it also reassures investors who want to lend to Ghana. That reassurance can make it easier for Ghana to borrow at cheaper interest rates to fund development projects. Also, because less government revenue has to go toward interest payments, there’s less pressure to raise new taxes to get enough money to pay the interest on the loans.