Several African countries, especially those once burdened with debts, have issued Eurobonds to raise money for capital projects. Reuters News Agency quotes the director of IMF’s African Department, Antoinette Sayeh, as saying, in an interview on Monday, that such Eurobonds come with risks. “Whereas what it costs the countries to issue these bonds can often look lower than what they would pay on domestic borrowing,” Sayeh explains, “the real cost in the final analysis will also depend on the evolution of exchange rates in the course of the life of the bond issuance.”Ghana became the first African beneficiary of debt relief to tap international capital markets, when it, in 2007, issued a $750 million 10-year Eurobond. Since then, previously debt-burdened countries such as Senegal, Nigeria, Zambia and Rwanda have followed suit.

Nigeria has, since its debt-relief of 2004, twice raised money from Eurobonds; first in 2011 with a $500 million 10-year Eurobond and then in 2013 when it issued a $500 million 5-year bond at a yield of 5.375 percent and a $500 million 10-year bond with a yield of 6.625 percent.

 This year Kenya raised a record $2 billion Eurobond, the largest debut for an African country in the sovereign bond market,  while Ivory Coast also raised $500 million. Sayeh noted that “In 2014 alone we’ve seen some $7 billion already in sovereign bond issues, which is a record high for the region,”.

According to Reuters, Tanzania is in the process of securing credit rating and plans to issue a debut Eurobond worth up to $1 billion in fiscal year 2014/15. Ethiopia aims to make its first foray into the international bond markets by January, while Rwanda is planning another sovereign bond.

Sayeh stated that foreign investors were interested in sub-Saharan Africa’s “good economic prospects” and “sound macro-economic policies”. However she noted that local investors remained the biggest source of financing for African infrastructure projects, and there was “more room for private investments in infrastructure”.