Africa Loans

The Republic of Rwanda is set to return to the international bond market for a dollar bond, joining a club of sub-Saharan African sovereigns that have taken advantage of attractive funding conditions in recent weeks.

South Africa, historically one of the continent’s most favoured issuers, has come under intense investor scrutiny as it faces a wave of domestic unrest.

The London branch of South African lender Investec has successfully debuted in the sustainability-linked syndicated loan market.

South African bank Investec is inviting Asian lenders to join a $450m sustainability-linked loan that is being syndicated globally.

The number of emerging market syndicated loans is in decline for the fourth year in a row, according to Dealogic data. Bankers' outlooks for the rest of the year err on the pessimistic side, with the fallout from the pandemic being the main concern.

The Singapore-incorporated global energy company Puma Energy has bounced back after a planned bond issuance last year failed to materialise, raising $590m in the loan market. Sources say the company’s change of management and reorganisation brought a “sense of relief”.

As its debt-to-GDP ratio inflates and its public finances come under pressure, some have wondered if Tunisia will succumb to a debt restructuring process. But the governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia, Marouane El Abassi, told GlobalCapital that the country is intent on securing new IMF funding as a prerequisite to entering capital markets.

A consortium of international lenders is funding the development of Egypt’s largest solar plant.

Airtel Africa, the UK telecommunication company providing services across Africa, has raised $500m from a range of international lenders. It becomes one of the latest Africa-based issuers to inject activity into the syndicated loan market.

Amid a broader downturn in emerging market syndicated loans, several African issuers — including sovereigns — are seeking debt facilities from international lenders.

The announcement this week that the IMF is on its way to issuing a further $650bn of special drawing rights, providing central banks with extra foreign currency liquidity, should not be criticised for being too little, too late. It marks a much needed return to multilateralism, something that the developing world will benefit from.

Zambia and the IMF will resume negotiations on an extended credit facility package, having missed the first deadline.