African Bond Market

South African Yield Closing in on Turkey Shows Downgrade Fears

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The shrinking yield discount on South African dollar bonds relative to Turkish debt is a sign investors are pricing in another credit downgrade for Africa’s biggest economy, according to Standard Bank Group Ltd. The 10-year spread has narrowed to 19 basis points, from 120 basis points in January. While Turkey’s yield has dropped amid demand for emerging-market assets, South Africa’s tracked sideways as political and fiscal challenges mount. “The…

Nigerian Bank Just Sold Most Expensive Emerging-Market Bond

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s Fidelity Bank Plc sold the highest-yielding Eurobond from emerging markets this year, joining a rush for issuance before higher U.S. interest rates push up borrowing costs. The mid-sized Lagos-based lender issued $400 million of five-year securities with a 10.75 percent yield on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. The deal initially had guidance of about 11 percent, said the person. Fidelity is the…

Junk for South Africa as Fitch Joins S&P in Cut on Politics

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African debt got dealt a second blow in a week as Fitch Ratings Ltd. joined S&P Global Ratings and cut the nation’s credit assessment to junk following President Jacob Zuma’s move to fire a well-respected finance minister. Fitch reduced the foreign-currency rating to BB+, the highest non-investment grade and on par with Turkey and Portugal, four days after S&P reduced its assessment. The local-currency rating was also lowered one level to…

Ghana $2.2 bln debt sale boosts Central Bank reserves by one-third

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana has raised $2.2 billion from a sale of long-dated domestic bonds on Friday, boosting its central bank reserves by one-third, transaction leads and central bank sources said on Monday. Offshore buyers constituted 90 percent of accepted bids, according to Barclays Bank Ghana sources. The cedi fell to a record low of 4.7420 to the dollar last month but rallied to 4.2750 by noon (1200 GMT) on Monday, down…

Kenya sells bond over mobile phones in world first

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyans can now buy government bonds using only their mobile phones. The nation’s Treasury on Thursday began selling 150 million shillings ($1.5 million) of three-year debt using a platform known as M-Akiba, the first such product across East Africa. “For the first time we will provide government securities to the entire population,” Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge said at a briefing in the capital, Nairobi. “This will dramatically change the savings…

African Sovereign Eurobond February 2016: Spreads Narrrowing amidst unchanged Fed Rate

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Lagos, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — African sovereign Eurobonds spreads narrowing in February compared to January spreads. This is as a result of the US Federal Reserve signalled that the Fed has put future rate hikes on hold but will continue to monitor closely developments in the global economy and financial markets. In addition, crude-oil price recovery on hopes that key oil producers aimed at freezing or cutting current levels of production and couple with the…

Egypt Plans Eurobond Sale to Ease Pressure on Reserves

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CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Market in Africa — Egypt plans to tap international bond markets in the second quarter this year, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said, in order to preserve foreign reserves amid a slowing global economy. Egypt has approved a bond-issuance program of up to US$10 billion, and in June 2015, it raised US$1.5 billion of Eurobonds as part of the program. The government plans to issue another US$1.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 but…

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