Africa

Europe’s lacklustre market for IPOs is showing little signs of improvement as the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the African trade finance group, pulled its $250m IPO on the London Stock Exchange, blaming “unfavourable market conditions”.

Russia's VTB Bank has signed an agreement with African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to boost trade finance cooperation between the two in Africa. The announcement comes on the heels of the inaugural Russia-Africa summit held this week in Sochi, during which a number of trade deals were said to have been signed.

South Africa is poised to lose its final investment grade rating when Moody's conducts a review of its score a week from Friday. That has the potential to throw South African borrowers' funding plans into chaos following a year of of healthy, tightly priced issuance. Mariam Meskin and Ross Lancaster report.

The World Bank is hoping to step up its activity as an intermediary in commodity hedging transactions, providing credit enhancements for its clients in their arrangements with insurers to protect them from external shocks

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Heavy debt burdens are forcing African countries to either renegotiate loan terms with China, or ask for debt forgiveness, with some blaming China’s lack of attention to debt sustainability.

Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD) was able to tighten pricing beyond guidance on a 12 year bond, one of its longest dated issues, this week.

The African Export Bank (Afreximbank) has confirmed its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange, paving the way for a $250m IPO.

Shares in Helios Towers, the African telecommunications infrastructure company backed by George Soros and Madeleine Albright, rose as much as 4.3% following their debut on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning, despite a jittery market that has seen numerous IPOs pulled or trading below their offer prices.

Standard Bank is expected to raise $1bn in the loan market, up from an initial target of $500m, and slash the pricing of a three year loan by roughly 30bp.

Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD) is set to return to the capital markets for the first time in over two years, sounding out investors for a long end dollar benchmark. The trade will follow a euro dual trancher from the Ivory Coast sovereign.

The African Export Bank (Afexrimbank) has filed initial paperwork before a potential float on the London Stock Exchange.