Ghana has finally succeeded in issuing its fourth Eurobond. It however had to cut back on its initial figure to get a better rate for the bond. The Minister of Finance , Seth Terkper in a statement indicated that the Eurobond had been oversubscribed by about one hundred percent. He said contrary to reports that invested had rejected the bond, it was issued after an eight-day roadshow that took the Ghana team, to five cities in the UK and the US.
According to the Ministry, Ghana has now become the first sub-Saharan African country, outside South Africa, to issue a fifteen-year bond. Ghana priced and will issue the bond at a coupon rate of 10.75 percent. This is higher than the previous one which had coupon rates of 8 and 8.5 percent for its two billion dollar- bond issued.
According to the Minister, the World Bank partial guarantee of four hundred million dollars, enabled Ghana to borrow on reasonable terms, in a rather difficult market. The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Henry Wampah at the end of the pricing in New York expressed his satisfaction with the bond issue and the processes that led to its success. The bond is a soft amortizing one with a tenure of fifteen years, to be paid off in 2028 and 2029. About $334 million out of the total will be paid later in 2030. The proceeds would be used for the refinancing of maturing domestic debt. It would be recalled that Parliament approved an amount of up to US$1.5 billion for refinancing of existing debt and for capital expenditure.
Source – Citifm
