Rwanda plans debut eurobond to plug aid gap
Since getting much of its overseas aid cut off last year, the Rwandan government has faced problems plugging a gap in its budget.
No surprise then that it plans to take advantage of low borrowing costs in international debt markets. President Paul Kagame this week revealed more details of the east African nation’s anticipated debut eurobond issue. Continue reading »
In October last year, beyondbrics wrote of a sub-Saharan debt rush – partly based on Zambia’s successful issue, and on investors’ hunt for yield and diversification.
But now there is now talk of “original sin” – excessive borrowing in non-domestic currency; yields have increased and spreads have widened. What’s going on? Chart of the week takes a look. Continue reading »
Tanzania’s debut eurobond: a change of tack
Tanzania is one of several African countries that have announced their intention to issue eurobonds this year, taking advantage of favourable conditions for frontier market sovereign debt.
But instead of going to market with a plain vanilla eurobond as expected, the east African country has surprised money managers with plans to issue a $500m, seven-year amortising bond this week in a private placement. Continue reading »
Angola plans to join eurobond rush
2012 was a great year for frontier-market hard-currency bonds, and Angola hopes to get in on the action in 2013. The oil producer announced on Friday plans to raise $1bn from a debut eurobond issue later this year. Continue reading »
Kazakhstan: dipping a toe back in the debt market
Kazakhstan will issue 150bn Tenge ($996m) of eurobonds this year in its first venture onto international capital markets in over a decade.
The oil-rich central Asian country said it would take advantage of historically low foreign borrowing costs to help plug a budget deficit and set a benchmark for Kazakh corporates hoping to raise funds in 2013. Continue reading »
Rating agency Fitch is ending the year with predictions that sub-Saharan Africa will be “a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy world in 2013″. With growth expectations of above 5 per cent, the region is set to benefit from rising investor interest, and upgrades may be in order.
Among the agency’s 15 rated sub-Saharan sovereigns, nine have stable outlooks and three positive. So who are the ones to watch? Continue reading »
The volume may be similar, but the names are changing. That’s likely to be the story of emerging market soveriegn debt in 2013, according to a report from Barclays, as lots of first time issuers look to tap the markets.
And rather than big benchmark issuers such as Turkey, South Africa and Russia driving the supply of hard-currency bonds, the biggest issuer next year may well be Indonesia. Continue reading »
With emerging market debt markets booming, is now time for African nations to join in? If Zambia’s recent bond is anything to go by, the answer would be a firm ‘yes’ – as many analysts are fond of pointing out, Zambia’s yield on its 10-year bond is lower than that of Spain.
So what’s stopping African countries jumping in and issing international bonds? Continue reading »
As the global economy muddles through, African markets are giving investors something to smile about, with equity, FX, local bonds and eurobonds all outperforming, according to a report this week by Standard Bank.
Africa’s “teflon-coated” eurobonds – or foreign-denominated debt sold to international investors – have been star performers. Standard Bank’s African Sovereign Eurobond index is up over 23 per cent year-to-date, compared to JP Morgan’s benchmark EMBI Global index, which has returned just over 14 per cent. Continue reading »
Russia Inc: jumping back on the Eurobond express
After a near seven month lull, Russian corporates are returning to the Eurobond market in droves. Big name borrowers such as state-owned Russian Railways and VTB have followed on the heels of the Russian government, which last week raised $7bn in one of the biggest emerging market sovereign issues ever, while privately-owned borrowers, including Promsvyazbank and Raspadskaya, are expected to soon follow suit. Continue reading »
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