Togo: Decision to issue Eurobond nearing

Finance
Monday, 08 July 2019 17:32
Togo: Decision to issue Eurobond nearing

(Togo First) - Togo should, if everything goes according to plans, raise €500 million through a Eurobond before the end of this quarter. The government indeed supposedly picked this option over a commercial loan.

Lomé plans to use these funds to clear part of its internal debt. Maturity period for the bond should exceed seven years.

According to sources close to the case, a Togolese delegation is expected in London in the coming weeks. On this occasion, the delegation will meet international institutional investors and study the market, ahead of a potential roadshow. It should be recalled that Ecobank’s top executives proceeded with a similar visit last month, accompanied by some Togolese officials.

Ecobank has, it must be noted, successfully raised €500 million on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). An experience which comforts Lomé in its intent to issue a Eurobond as well. Other reasons that spur the country’s confidence regarding the operation include the IMF’s praise for its efforts to improve public finances, reflected by a dropping public debt, and its first-ever sovereign ratings from US ratings agency S&P.

Between 2012 and 2018, African States raised $87.4 billion through 77 Eurobond issuances. In 2018 alone, around 25 issuances occurred. Among countries which issued the bonds are Egypt, Gabon, Congo, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Tunisia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

This year, Benin, which has the same ratings (S&P) as Togo, raised €500 million through Eurobonds.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

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