Africa Bonds

Moody's joined Fitch late on Monday in downgrading the Republic of Congo, which defaulted on a principal and coupon payment on its only international bond last week.

Ghana is on the road this week for its first standalone bond since 2014. The government will use the new issue to buy back its $500m 2017s as part of its push towards "smart" debt management. In a market where yield is king, bankers expect the deal to go well, despite concerns about the country's widening budget deficit.

The Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) sold a ZK104m ($10.3m) five year note to a single investor on Monday.

The International Monetary Fund approved on Friday a two-year precautionary liquidity line (PLL) to Morocco to support the country as it pursues a reform agenda.

After a year of muted issuance, two African sovereigns met investors in London this week. While both Angola and Nigeria held non-deal roadshows, investors said the timing was "no coincidence" for the former.

The Central Bank of Nigeria is undertaking a non-deal roadshow in London to meet rates, FX and credit investors.

Representatives from Angola met investors in London on Thursday as part of a four day non-deal roadshow. The African sovereign recently walked away from discussions with the International Monetary Fund about borrowing money.

Mozambique’s debt story has been unravelling since the disclosure of some $1.4bn of additional public loans in April, but if anyone thought this painful tale of investor woe was enough to dampen appetite towards Africa, they’d be completely wrong.

Moody’s has downgraded Mozambique with a negative outlook blaming weaker government willingness to honour its debt related obligations as a primary concern.

It was a rough day for stocks on Wednesday, but a great day for equity capital markets, with two convertible bonds launched and priced — the first since the UK’s vote to quit the European Union was revealed on June 24. They came on top of a roaring reception for Melrose Industries’ announcement of a £1.7bn rights issue for an acquisition in the US.

African Bank is gathering responses this week for a two tier buy-back of its outstanding dollar and Swiss franc debt in a bid to reduce its interest expense. The bank was bailed out by the Reserve Bank of South Afica in April.

Mozambique’s battered sovereign bonds dropped to new lows this week after the IMF warned its public debt is at high risk of distress after concluding a fact finding mission to the country last Friday.