Africa Bonds

African borrowers will soon add a new flavour to the wave of Middle Eastern issuance that has so far dominated the autumn pipeline.

Renaissance Capital has hired a new director for its DCM team as part of the bank’s expansion of its capital markets business in Africa.

South African precious metals mining company Sibanye Stillwater has launched a tender process to repurchase some of its high yield and convertible bonds.

The Republic of Angola's bonds rallied some 40bp on Monday after its ministry of finance said that it had sought financial support from the International Monetary Fund, but lost some of those gains as rumours of new dollar issue surfaced.

Mozambique’s bondholders have presented a restructuring proposal to the government, following their rejection of Mozambique’s proposed package in March.

Rating: B2/CCC+/BB-

South Africa state-owned utility Eskom’s return to the international bond markets on Thursday was hailed as proof of the faith investors have in Cyril Ramaphosa, the country's president. And it could well mark the beginning of the country’s rehabilitation in the debt capital markets as Eskom is widely thought of as South Africa’s biggest and most public financial problem. Francesca Young reports.

Eskom has released initial price guidance for its $1.5bn dual tranche bond but analysts and syndicate officials seem divided as to whether the premium offered over the sovereign is enough to make it a compelling purchase. But having set modest sizes for the notes, the large majority expect the trade to go well.

Eskom, the South African state-run power company, has said it could print its dollar bond as early as tomorrow and has confirmed that it will sell both standalone and government-guaranteed tranches. Investors have a wide range of views on fair value.

EM bond markets around the world have been forced by difficult conditions to shut down early for summer. The only trade due this week, from South Africa's Eskom, will have to attract investors that are ready to hunker down and wait for September.

Eskom’s return to markets this week is the latest example of how the best bet in the emerging markets is often not on how strong a company is, but how strong its friends are. That is a lesson well remembered for investors, as EM hits a rocky patch.

Zambia is looking for options to refinance an increasingly worrying debt pile in the wake of a ratings downgrade.