Africa

South Africa’s Absa Bank is expected to close its loan syndication by the end of this week, as an abundance of liquidity in the loan market, as well as healthy investor appetite for bank debt, causes pricing compression.

Ghana Cocoa Board, the central organisation for Ghana's cocoa industry, is in the process of raising $1.3bn to refinance existing debt.

The Republic of Angola has signed a €1bn credit line from Deutsche Bank to fund private investment projects in the country. The deal is part of a wider trend of increasing funding support for the country’s growing private sector.

Airtel Africa, the African unit of Indian telecommunications group Bharti Airtel, has fixed the price range for its £595m IPO on the London Stock Exchange.

IPO investors in Europe are taking more time over new listings and subjecting each to greater levels of scrutiny than before.

Sasol, an integrated chemical and energy company, last week announced a five year $1.8bn loan with a range of leading international lenders. The loan is the first corporate one in South Africa since its hotly contested elections in May. Loan bankers expect to see an improvement in borrowing conditions as a number of banks tap the market before year end.

South Africa’s GDP showed the largest quarterly contraction in a decade, with the sovereign and country’s banks likely to face pressure on their credit metrics as a result.

Emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) are at risk of a financial crisis as mounting debt levels are making them vulnerable to an economic shock, the World Bank warned this week.

Investors are calculating the value of Airtel Africa, the African subsidiary of Indian telecoms conglomerate Bharti Airtel, as it is going ahead with a floatation on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

Ecobank Transnational Inc, the pan-African bank based in Togo, tapped a $500m 9.5% 2024 bond it issued in April for a further $50m on Tuesday. But despite the note being printed flat to the outstanding, according to leads, and the original bond having rallied over 150bp in yield since pricing a month ago, the tap brought the deal in by another 25bp in secondary trading.

Guinea Alumina Corp, a subsidiary of Emirates Global Aluminium, has secured a $750m loan, in the largest financing package for a greenfield mining project in Guinea's history.

Airtel Africa, the African subsidiary of Indian telecommunications conglomerate Bharti Airtel, has announced its intention to float on the London Stock Exchange, paving the way for a multi-billion pound IPO that will allow its parent to raise funds to reduce its debt.