Africa
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South Africa is experiencing a difficult week in credit markets, with credit default swaps that reference its debt hitting their widest point for two years. -
With oil less than half the price it was last year, African borrowers are being driven into the loan market for funding. Angolan oil company Sonangol is the prime example, according to one of the firm’s relationship banks, and more are close behind. Elly Whittaker reports.
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There aren’t many corporate insolvencies that would make a good movie. But any scriptwriters out there wanting to emulate the success of the Enron film should read our coverage of Afren this week.
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Ukraine’s sovereign debt restructuring, Argentinian primary elections and a potential Turkish coalition government are keeping debt bankers alert while the primary bond market takes its summer break.
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Oceana Group, a South African fishing company incorporated nearly a century ago and listed in Johannesburg, intends to raise R1.2bn ($94m) through a rights issue.
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Ghana National Cocoa Board’s (Cocobod) annual loan syndication has closed oversubscribed and with a margin of around 60bp, the same as the deal it signed in 2014.
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Nigeria’s Skye Bank is looking for a one year loan led by Dubai's Mashreqbank, according to a loan banker.
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Renminbi usage in South Africa has soared, according to data published this week by Swift. But although the country is still the only official offshore RMB hub in Africa, others are increasingly coming into the focus of Chinese regulators' internationalisation agenda. Kenya could soon see its first RMB clearing services, GlobalRMB understands.
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Once the wild west of finance, emerging markets had dodginess and defaults aplenty. Now ethical investors want socially responsible investments. But if SRI criteria are too strict there will be nothing to buy, writes Steven Gilmore.
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Zambia has printed its $1.25bn bond with a yield higher than any other outstanding African sovereign bond, as investors have this year punished the country for falling copper prices, a weak kwacha and a gaping budget deficit.
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Zambia has released price guidance of 9.25%-9.75% for an 11 year amortising bond, at a yield level that was the highest for a sub-Saharan African sovereign benchmark.
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