Africa Loans

Nigeria’s Fidelity Bank is looking for a $100m two year loan, at the start of an expected wave of international loan financings from the country.

The CEEMEA bond market is packed full of new issues as a least nine new issuers are confirmed as being on the road marketing new deals.

Loans business is busy in several African countries, with two bank deals having been signed and a railway infrastructure financing package mandated.

Nigeria is set for a busy run of syndicated loans, with bankers saying there could be at least six deals before the end of the year and that two of those – for IHS and Helios Towers – could be up to $1bn each. But while loans officials are optimistic about African lending and Nigeria in particular, analysts suggested there could be a rush to beat the storm clouds gathering over the country’s economy in 2015.

The African loan market is awash with bank and financial company business, with two firms from different countries circling for financing, while one has already landed a deal.

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Liquid Telecom, the African fixed line provider, is set to launch a five year financing to expand its international network.

Liquid Telecom, the African fixed line provider, is set to launch a five year financing to expand its international network.

The international Russian syndicated loan market is in dreadful shape, as relations between Russia and the west plumb new depths. Lending banks are trying to reorient their personnel and capital to other regions — Africa and the Middle East are natural places to turn. But while they could be promising areas of growth in the future, banks should be wary of quick fixes.

Loan bankers have every reason to be getting twitchy. Any lingering hopes of Russian deals getting a reprieve were finally extinguished this week as fighting continued in Ukraine and tensions with Russia escalated, writes Dan Alderson.

Kenya is ramping up its infrastructure financing drive, with Kenya Pipeline Co (KPC) and Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) pushing forward with long dated loan plans. The deals come amid a spate of Kenyan projects that look set to benefit not only the country itself but its neighbours in East Africa.

Kenya is ramping up its infrastructure financing drive, with both Kenya Pipeline Co. (KPC) and Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) pushing forward with long dated loan plans. The deals come amid a spate of Kenyan projects that look set to benefit not only the country itself but its neighbours in East Africa.