Ivory Coast's planned Eurobond issuance to end Africa’s drought

AFRICAN BUSINESS AND ECONOMYJanuary 16, 2024 at 10:19 PM UTC

TLDR

Ivory Coast set to issue Eurobond, becoming the first sub-Saharan African country to do so after a two-year break.
President Ouattara announced the launch, emphasizing investment in digital technology, transportation, and leveraging oil and gas discoveries.
Anticipated rapid economic growth for Ivory Coast in 2024, as evidenced by a drop in yields on their Eurobond.

Ivory Coast is set to become the first sub-Saharan African country to issue a Eurobond following an almost two-year hiatus. The largest cocoa producer globally is preparing to launch a new Eurobond next week, as announced by President Alassane Ouattara in the commercial hub of Abidjan.

During a televised address, Ouattara stated, "The government will persist in the structural transformation of the Ivorian economy, expediting investments across various sectors such as digital technology and transportation, and capitalizing on recent oil and gas discoveries."

While the president refrained from revealing the deal's magnitude, Ivory Coast is anticipated to emerge as one of the most rapidly growing economies in the region in 2024. After his statements, yields on the country's Eurobond maturing in July 2024 experienced a 17 basis points drop on Monday, reaching 8.36%.

Key Takeaways

Sub-Saharan African nations have faced restricted access to global debt markets since 2022 when the US Federal Reserve initiated substantial interest rate hikes to combat inflation. This marked the first instance since 2009, amidst the global financial crisis, that countries in the region experienced an entire year without any international bond sales.

Ivory Coast

Eurobond

Finance

Debt