Africa Loans

South African gold producer Sibanye-Stillwater has refinanced an existing local currency revolving credit facility, demonstrating lender confidence in the country's borrowers despite the threat of an impending rating downgrade.

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.

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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.

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.

Ivory Coast has bolstered loans bankers' expectations that African sovereigns will become a rare source for growth in the market, closing a €300m seven year loan.

Standard Bank is set to raise at least $500m by the end of the year, the latest in a series of loans raised by South African banks in the past few months. The deal is expected to have tighter margins than its previous deals, according to market sources.

Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) has closed its annual refinancing, securing a $1.3bn facility from a range of international lenders. The facility, Cocobod's second international borrowing this year, has tighter margins than last year's round, illustrating a healthy appetite for one of Africa's most frequent borrowers.

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Rand Merchant Bank International Mauritius (RMBIM) has secured a $400m syndicated loan from international lenders, months after a transfer of dollar debt from FirstRand Bank. The deal marks the latest in a series of loans raised by South African banks this year.

Lagos-headquartered Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has debuted in the Samurai loan market, raising a $150m-equivalent loan from a consortium of Japanese lenders. The deal is one of two Samurai loans signed by African borrowers in recent weeks.