Africa

A number of sub-Saharan African sovereigns are eyeing the Eurobond market, after a year that saw dismally low levels of capital markets issuance from the region. But investors are still on the hunt for yield, market participants say, which can be found in abundance in Africa.

Bond markets have been settling in for a period of higher US Treasury yields since Wednesday when the Federal Reserve confirmed it did not expect to raise rates before 2024. While that made long-dated issuance trickier for SSA issuers, there was hope that emerging market bond issuance will soon resume, even if a bumpy ride lies in wait. Mariam Meskin, Oliver West and Lewis McLellan report.

CEEMEA bond market participants were keeping an eye on the US Federal Reserve this week, after weeks of volatility in the US Treasury market. Whatever the Fed announces after this week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting will dictate whether CEEMEA bond supply resumes next week.

African Export-Import Bank, the multilateral bank headquartered in Cairo, has provided a term loan to OCP Group, a Moroccan phosphate miner and fertiliser producer.

Green bond issuance is set to blossom in Africa — at least, that is the hope of FSD Africa, an organisation in Kenya that has agreed to cooperate with a group of stock exchanges to foster the market in 16 of the continent's countries. Substantial deals are expected from Kenya and Malawi in the coming months.

Helios Towers, the Africa-focused telecoms infrastructure company, has sold a new $250m convertible bond to finance its pipeline of tower assets.

Most debt repayment strains in emerging markets have been contained, according to the Institute of International Finance, but there are still concerns about the organisation of debt relief and debt sustainability.

The IMF and Zambia will continue their negotiations about a package to put the country on a path to financial stability, the Fund said on Thursday, after the deadline for initial talks had passed the day before with no deal agreed. But market participants are still demanding more transparency over the defaulted sovereign's external debts.

South Africa is set to come to the market for a dollar bond, despite rising US Treasury yields unsettling bond investors. High yielding emerging markets borrowers are insulated from the volatility in the US govvie market for now, market participants said.

Ghana has secured two loan agreements, which are backed by the export credit agency of Italy, Sace. There is more room for the ECA-backed market to grow in the region, sources close to the deal said.

Expectations of increased demand for emerging market local currency bonds are starting to wane, as the macroeconomic backdrop and interest rate volatility point to a stronger dollar in the short term.

Despite a modest recovery in oil markets after an unprecedentedly volatile period last year, hydrocarbon-dependent emerging market governments are being warned to diversify urgently, amid estimations that a multi-trillion dollar revenue gap looms over some of the most vulnerable oil exporters. Capital markets must play a critical role in that transformation, say industry experts.