Ghana

Ghana has bought back $200m of its outstanding 8.5% 2017s — just half of the targeted $400m. Emerging markets investors were happy to hold the bonds to maturity, said one on Monday.

Ghana stunned bond markets with a new six year dollar deal yielding 9.25% on Thursday, barely a month after abandoning issuance plans due to pricing concerns.

Ghana took investors by surprise on Thursday morning with the release of pricing for a new global dollar bond.

A slip-up by Ghana last week has done little to derail investor appetite for African credit and with the low rate environment set to continue, bankers expect no letup in the voracious bid for Africa, which is good news for those sovereigns already lining up trades.

Ghana bought back $100m of its outstanding 2017s on Tuesday after postponing a new issue last week which was due to finance a much larger buy-back. Ghana’s bonds have since rallied, bringing the country’s borrowing costs down substantially, according to a fixed income investor.

Investor appetite for African risk seems to have found its upper limit as even the EM bulls would not stretch to buying Ghanaian sovereign risk at the asking price on Thursday, writes Virginia Furness.

Republic of Ghana postponed its dollar bond issuance on Thursday after pricing moved against the issuer. It will proceed with a $100m buy-back of its 2017s but there is confusion about the outcome of a parliamentary vote on Tuesday.

Republic of Ghana is still expected to open books on a five year amortising note this week, though no exact timing has been given, a lead banker said on Wednesday.

Ghana is on the road this week for its first standalone bond since 2014. The government will use the new issue to buy back its $500m 2017s as part of its push towards "smart" debt management. In a market where yield is king, bankers expect the deal to go well, despite concerns about the country's widening budget deficit.

A group of international banks are understood be close to signing a $1.4bn project finance loan for a major oil and gas field development, expected to transform Ghana's domestic energy distribution.

It was a rough day for stocks on Wednesday, but a great day for equity capital markets, with two convertible bonds launched and priced — the first since the UK’s vote to quit the European Union was revealed on June 24. They came on top of a roaring reception for Melrose Industries’ announcement of a £1.7bn rights issue for an acquisition in the US.

Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) has completed senior syndication of its $1.8bn trade finance loan and will pay a few basis points more than last year’s deal to reflect harsher market conditions.