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Afreximbank, which finances and promotes intra- and extra-African trade, has been diversifying its funding sources. [Courtesy]
African Export-Import Bank has raised $1.5 billion in its largest-ever bond issuance, marking a triumphant return to the US dollar public market after a five-year absence and signaling strong investor appetite for African credit despite elevated global bond yields.
The Cairo-based multilateral lender priced a dual-tranche Reg S/144A senior unsecured Eurobond on Tuesday, its first US dollar public issuance since July 2021. The deal comprised $750 million with a 5.5-year maturity, due January 2032, and another $750 million with a 10-year tenor, due July 2036.
Demand surged to $3.8 billion at its peak, making the offering roughly two times oversubscribed, with interest evenly split across both tranches. Supported by the robust investor response, Afreximbank tightened pricing by 37.5 basis points on each tranche, landing final yields of 6.25 per cent for the shorter-dated paper and 7.125 per cent for the 10-year bonds.
