Ivory Coast to end Africa’s eurobond drought with new issue

Ivory Coast will become the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to issue a eurobond after a nearly two-year hiatus.

The world’s largest cocoa producer will issue a new eurobond next week, President Alassane Ouattara said in the commercial capital Abidjan on Monday.

“The government will continue the structural transformation of the Ivorian economy, the acceleration of investments in many sectors such as digital technology and transport as well as the exploitation of recent oil and gas discoveries,” he said in a speech on state television.

The president did not disclose the size of the planned deal. Ivory Coast is expected to be one of the fastest-growing economies in the region in 2024.

Following his remarks, yields on the country’s eurobond due July 2024 fell 17 basis points on Monday to trade at 8.36%

“Ivory Coast will – most likely – issue in dollars and in the 10-year tenor,” said Søren Mørch, portfolio manager at Danske Bank Asset Management. “They will be aiming to sell around 8.50% to 8.75% and a size of $1 billion to $1.25 billion.”

Nations in sub-Saharan Africa have been effectively locked out of international debt markets since the US Federal Reserve began raising interest rates aggressively in 2022 to fight high inflation.

The last time sub-Saharan African countries spent a full year without a single international bond sale was 2009, in the midst of the global financial crisis.