Barclays Debt Capital and the Citi Group, both international finance institutions and joint managers of Ghana’s second $1billion Eurobond, are currently in the United States, where they will be staging road shows to arouse investor appetite for the bond.
The lead arrangers were accompanied by EDC Brokers Limited and Strategic African Securities (SAS), local Ghanaian co-managers, reports in the Ghanaian press reveal.
“The road shows will… last for a week or two. It can even end earlier than that because nobody wants to incur more cost (by prolonging the road show) if the objective can be achieved in a short time,” a source quoted by local Daily Graphic newspaper added.
According to the report, the road shows will be held in London, Frankfurt and Los Angeles, as well as done online to prospective buyers in China and other countries.
The road show is in the form of presentations to prospective buyers, fund managers and capital market players on the reasons for the offer, how the proceeds will be applied and why investors should buy into it.
The roadshow is likely to highlight Ghana’s investor-friendly environment and the current socio-economic stability as reasons why the international investing community should have faith in and patronise the offer.
It is after the road show that the issue date will be announced, possibly in August.
The recent pockets of fiscal slippages with regard to the rising inflation and the high wage bill and their overall impact on economic performance, the source said going forward, “the presentation will look at how these will be addressed in the long term”.
“Remember it’s a seven-year issue so nobody will be focusing too much on the present circumstances,” the source, who is part of those to undertake the road show, added.
The country’s maiden Eurobond was issued in 2007 and raised $750 million, which is due to mature in 2017, was oversubscribed partly because of the country’s strong economic outlook at the time.
The government says it needs the money to pay up the maiden bond and also to fund critical infrastructure projects.
African countries will this year raise $12 billion in Eurobonds in total this year. Earlier this month, Nigeria successfully raised $1bn from its Eurobond.
