Africa

Egypt has picked four international banks to manage its upcoming bond sale as it awaits approval on a $12bn extended fund facility (EFF) from the IMF’s executive board.

Egypt has picked four international banks to manage its upcoming bond sale as it awaits approval on a $12bn extended fund facility (EFF) from the IMF’s executive board.

Sovereign mandates are starting to trickle through in CEEMEA as borrowers ready themselves for September. Bahrain has picked five banks to manage a dollar transaction and the market is waiting for updates from Egypt and Nigeria.

A couple of banks are finalising their approvals for the $1bn loan for South African telecoms group MTN and the deal is due to sign before the end of next week.

Stanbic Bank Uganda, a unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank, is refinancing an $85m loan signed last year for a smaller one, according to one banker on the deal.

The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (PTA) is preparing to refinance a $320m credit line and is in the process of choosing banks to lead the deal.

A slip-up by Ghana last week has done little to derail investor appetite for African credit and with the low rate environment set to continue, bankers expect no letup in the voracious bid for Africa, which is good news for those sovereigns already lining up trades.

Steinhoff has agreed a loan with one new lender and bumped up its bridge facility with Crédit Agricole and UniCredit. The steps were taken to support the retailer’s increased offer for the UK’s discount retailer Poundland.

The deadline for responses to Egypt’s RFP passed at noon in Cairo on Thursday with a decision on the mandate expected as soon as early next week, said one DCM banker.

European equity capital markets remain muted ahead of what many participants expect to be an extremely busy autumn window. Yet in London, there is one live deal of substantial size progressing steadily towards completion.

Ghana bought back $100m of its outstanding 2017s on Tuesday after postponing a new issue last week which was due to finance a much larger buy-back. Ghana’s bonds have since rallied, bringing the country’s borrowing costs down substantially, according to a fixed income investor.

CEEMEA primary markets have finally become a victim of the summer heat but there’s no snoozing on the beach for syndicate bankers. Planning for the second half of the year has already started in earnest.