Zambia sold a debut $750 million, 10-year Eurobond with a yield of 5.625 percent, a market source said, adding that more than $11 billion of orders were received for the issue. The popularity of the issue by Africa's biggest copper producer reflects strong investor appetite for scarce frontier African paper.
The yield was 25 basis points tighter than Zambia’s initial 5.875 percent guidance.
The size of the Zambian bond also means it will be eligible for the JP Morgan EMBI Global index, increasing its appeal to major investors.
The southern African country, which is rated B+ by Fitch and Standard and Poor’s, plans to use proceeds from the issue to upgrade its infrastructure, particularly in the transport and energy sectors.
Fitch cited the country’s buoyant copper mining sector, political stability and GDP growth of over 6 percent as strengths, but said prospects for growth beyond 2012 were less certain due to dependence on copper, which accounts for about 80 percent of exports Heightened global risk appetite and Zambia’s well-planned roadshow were the biggest factors behind the success of the issue, the investor said.
“The general global backdrop is pretty favourable at the moment. There’s been a lot of cash inflows into emerging market debt looking for a home,” he said. “They made a good case for the credit and timed it very well.”
Zambia plans to use proceeds from the issue to upgrade its infrastructure, particularly in its transport and energy sectors.
It is looking to invest over $1 billion in infrastructure projects, especially roads and rural power.
The southern African country has an annual infrastructure funding gap of $500 million, according to the World Bank, which estimates that improvements in this area could boost growth by up to 2 percentage points a year.
Its foray into international capital markets also shows Zambia understands the need to seek other sources of funding as foreign aid budgets decline, said Jan Dehn, portfolio manager at Ashmore Investment Management.
“Other African countries need to take note of this because they’re going to lose donor money,” said Dehn. “Just look at how terrible the fiscal situation and the growth situation is in Europe. Many of these countries are still completely dependent on donor finance.”
Nigeria is considering issuing a second Eurobond of up to $1 billion to fund its power and gas sectors, finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said last month
Zambia sold a debut $750 million, 10-year Eurobond with a yield of 5.625 percent, a market source said, adding that more than $11 billion of orders were received for the issue. The popularity of the issue by Africa's biggest copper producer reflects strong investor appetite for scarce frontier African paper.
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