Africa Bonds

South African First Rand Bank has mandated Citi, Mitsubishi and Rand Merchant Bank to arrange a dollar Reg S bond.

Sappi, the Austrian-South African paper maker, is considering new debt issuance in the coming year, as it seeks to refinance part of its debt and cut interest rate costs.

Sukuk is breaking free of regional boundaries to become an increasingly global market, senior IMF economists have told IFIS. Concentration risk is still one the biggest challenges for the growing market, but they expect the clear benefits of issuing sukuk bring more and more new issuers into the fold.

Some European and US investors are beginning to reconsider their involvement in Africa as a result of the spread of the Ebola virus, but local market specialists warned this week against a panic reaction to the epidemic, writes Olivier Holmey.

The sharp selloff in emerging market bonds caused by the severe volatility in US Treasuries on Wednesday hit Africa bond markets the hardest. A perfect storm engulfed the continent’s bond trading — EM investors alarmed by the Treasuries move, falling oil prices and fears over Ebola smashed any remaining resolve among investors in African bonds.

Good environment, social and corporate governance practices are moving from a bonus for investors to a commercial necessity, which is likely to add extra challenges for investors and issuers in Africa.

The sharp sell off in emerging market bonds, caused by the severe volatility in US Treasuries on Wednesday, has hit Africa bond markets the hardest. A “perfect storm” has engulfed the continent’s bonds — EM investors alarmed by the Treasuries move, falling oil prices and continued fears around the spread of Ebola combined to smash any remaining resolve left in investors trading in African bonds.

Don’t switch off. Ebola may not have hit your P&L yet, but it’s going to, soon, and hard, whatever your job is. And look at the charts. The logic is inexorable: the longer we take to overcome the disease, the worse the cost will be – for the global economy and in human life. This is not about a few percentage points of GDP. Modern civilisation itself is at risk.

Côte d’Ivoire has developed a taste for the international capital markets. After a successful $750m Eurobond in July, prime minister and finance minister Daniel Kablan Duncan tells Emerging Markets about his plans to raise $1bn on the international markets

The Republic of Tunisia looks set to join the growing number of sovereign borrowers to issue a debut sukuk in 2014, having requested proposals from banks for a five year deal before the end of the year.

The Republic of Tunisia looks set to join the growing number of sovereign borrowers to issue a debut sukuk in 2014, having requested proposals from banks for a five year deal before the end of the year.

Global investors are looking at southern Africa as the outlook for the region’s economic growth is revised upwards