Browsing: African sovereign Eurobonds

• Africa is increasing borrowing on global capital markets.
• Eurobonds are the preferred borrowing option for most African countries.
• The IMF advices setup of a rescue plan for African borrowers, in lure of another global crisis.

Africa capital market access is improving as the world markets start seeing a return to lower interest rates. Between 2007 and 2020, more than 20 African countries tapped into international capital markets to finance their ambitious development plans.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), most of these countries opted for Eurobonds issued by global financial centres.

“Along with this access to the markets came scaled-up lending from bilateral lenders, especially China, and continued access to loans from the multilateral organizations like the IMF and World Bank,” reports Gregory Smith, author of ‘Where Credit is Due: How African Debt Can Be a Benefit, Not A Burden’.

But after a pause by big lenders such as …

• Experts project that Côte d’Ivoire seeks to sell its Eurobond and around 8.50 per cent to 8.75 per cent for a ticket size of between US$1 billion to US$1.25 billion.
• Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire have been key players, with the values of their Eurobond issuances typically ranging from $200 million to $1 billion.
• The annual value of Eurobonds issued by West African governments witnessed a remarkable surge, increasing from $200 million in 2007 to $2.25 billion in 2014.

As the markets open in the new year, all eyes turn to Côte d’Ivoire, which has announced a plan to lead the continent in issuing a Eurobond—the first in Africa after a nearly two-year break.

Positioned on the verge of economic resurgence in 2024, Côte d’Ivoire is poised to become the first sub-Saharan African nation to issue a Eurobond as the global financial markets ease following a period of high …