Africa

Kemi Adeosun, the finance minister of Nigeria, has attacked the “hypocrisy” of Western governments in stopping developing countries accessing development bank finance for coal power.

MTN Group, the South African telecoms company, priced $1bn of five and 10 year bonds on Wednesday in line with initial guidance that some investors said was generous.

South African telecoms company MTN finally emerged with a dual-tranche dollar deal on Wednesday morning more than three weeks after finishing investor meetings.

After a slow start to the week, emerging market investors were offered a smorgasbord of options as borrowers from four continents and across the credit spectrum launched bonds in dollars and euros.

There was a cheerful mood in European equity capital markets throughout September, despite clear risks of volatility on the horizon and the IPO of Telxius falling into difficulty. The health of the market was highlighted this week by the success of a €2.5bn capital raising by Steinhoff, the South African retail group.

After a turbulent summer, South Africa swept in for its biggest ever bond issue on Thursday, taking $3bn with a dual tranche 12 and 30 year bond. The deal was a yield hunters dream and proved that investors are willing to put aside concerns of an impending downgrade, and political infighting, for a decent return.

GlaxoSmithKline disposed of its remaining 6.2% stake in Aspen Pharmacare, one of Africa’s largest pharmaceuticals companies, through an accelerated book build launched on Wednesday evening in a deal that was said to be comfortably oversubscribed after a wall-crossing process.

South Africa has opened books on a dual tranche 2028 and 2046 dollar bond after a turbulent summer and while the generous starting price is likely to generate momentum in the book, fears of a downgrade overhang the transaction with one investor telling GlobalCapital he saw better value elsewhere.

Steinhoff, the South African retail group, has completed a €2.45bn capital increase supported by one of South Africa’s richest men, Christoffel Wiese, and the Public Investment corp, of which €556m was raised through an accelerated bookbuild which ended up being nearly four times oversubscribed.

Ghana Coco Board (Cocobod), which oversees the processing and marketing of cocoa in the African country, has named the 23 international lenders providing its yearly loan of $1.8bn.

The cheerful and businesslike mood in European equity capital markets, despite clear risks of volatility in the offing, was highlighted again today by the launch of a €2.5bn capital raising by Steinhoff, the South African retail group.

Bank ABC and Credit Suisse are leading the syndication of a €195.5m loan for Tunisie Telecom's acquisition of a majority holding in Maltese telecoms firm GO, according to a banker close to the deal.