News and developments on African capital markets: African securities, African stock exchanges, African equities, African bonds, African private equity/venture capital, and African social impact investment. Twitter @africancapital, LinkedIn African Securities Exchanges group.
In New York 30 US frontier investors, stockbrokers and market specialists joined Edoh Kossi Amenounve, CEO of the West African regional exchange BRVM, to give their inputs to strategy development for the fast-growing stock market.
The International Finance Corporation continues its programme of helping develop African debt markets by launching the first bond by a non-resident issuer in Namibia. It raised NAD 180 million (about $12m) which it will use for private sector development.
Ethiopia saw soaring demand yesterday (4 Dec) for its debut $1bn Eurobond, after a quick US roadshow. Total demand was $2.6bn and the yield on the 10-year bond was settled at a relatively low 6.625%.
Ethiopia’s Finance Minister is meeting international banks Barclays, Citi and BNP Paribas about a planned Eurobond issue for late December 2014 or January 2015. The amount is unknown, the duration is likely to be “at least 10 years”.
Rwanda plans to return to Eurobond markets in 2015 and raise up to $1 billion for infrastructure, including an airport and power plants.
Ethiopia, Africa’s fifth biggest economy, is thinking of a debut Eurobond, after it received its first international credit ratings on 9 May: it got B from Fitch and B/B from Standard & Poors.
Laws have been approved in Angola to regulate the future securities exchange for equity and debt. The Capital Markets Commission (CMC) says that it plans to open a secondary debt market next year and this will pave the way for a securities exchange in 2016.
This Thursday is the African Debt Capital Markets Summit 2013, at Bloomberg in London, organized by IC Publications. The conference brings top international speakers including a minister and a central bank governor on topics such as developing and deepening Africa’s debt markets and institutional changes needed.
“South Africa’s established and efficient debt capital market is a key competitive advantage for South African firms” writes Barry Martin, joint head of debt capital markets at Rand Merchant Bank. Corporate debt issued in the first quarter of 2013 was R6.1 billion ($612 million).
The International Finance Corporation plans to issue a $50 million (NGN 8 billion) local-currency “Naija” bond in Nigeria to support the domestic capital markets and increase access to local-currency finance. IFC bonds are rated triple-A by Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s.