Ghana to issue $50m two-year domestic bond

Ghana plans to issue its first domestic investor only dollar bond in October in efforts to deepen the government's financing streams and bolster the local bond market, Finance Minister Seth Terkper has stated.

The two-year bond with a target of about $50 million, would be issued through a book-building system to be arranged by Barclays Bank, Stanbic Bank and brokerage firm Strategic African Securities.

This comes after Finance Ministry recently expressed satisfaction at the pricing of Ghana’s fifth Eurobond at 9.25 per cent in London to raise US$750 million from international investors with appetite for emerging economies’ sovereign debt instruments.

The bond was oversubscribed, with orders exceeding US$4 billion compared to a target issuance size of US$750 million, with interests coming from investors in the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States, Middle East and Asia.

The outturn represents an oversubscription of more than five times indicating the high appetite for Ghana’s credit, a statement from the Ministry stated.