Ghana launches 15-yr US$1 billion Eurobond at 10.75% coupon rate

ACCRA, Ghana, Capital Markets in Africa — Ghana launched a US$1 billion Eurobond on Wednesday at a 10.75 percent coupon rate, becoming the first country in sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa to issue a 15-year bond, Finance Minister Seth Terkper said in a statement.

The bond was 100 percent oversubscribed showing a “high appetite for Ghana’s credit” and a World Bank partial bond guarantee of $400 million enabled Ghana “to borrow on reasonable terms in a rather difficult market,” Terkper said.

The government had hoped to launch a $1.5 billion bond last week, but delayed the issue because there was little interest at the target yield of up to 9.5 percent, investors told Reuters.

The West African country’s economy has slowed sharply in the last two years, hit by a fall in global commodity prices that have hurt its gold, cocoa and oil exports.

It is also following an International Monetary Fund aid programme to restore balance to an economy with double-digit inflation and a debt-to-GDP ratio above 70 percent.

But investors were also deterred by concerns about the Chinese economy and a possible U.S. rate rise, factors that have caused turbulence in emerging debt markets.

Source: Reuters African Online Report Business News