VenturesNow

Egypt: AfDB approves $345m partial credit for Panda bond in boost to China-Africa relations

Published

3 weeks ago

May 21, 2023

Egypt will receive $345 million as Partial Credit Guarantee from the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) to improve its access to the Panda bond market.

The AfDB said the funds would help finance green and social projects and allow the country to raise the equivalent of $500 million in the Panda bond market, which deals with bonds denominated in Chinese yuan issued by foreign borrowers.

Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, Dr Rania A. Al-Mashat, while speaking on the latest deal, said the “new agreement with the African Development Bank provides an additional dimension to the strategic partnership, which is focused on promoting the transition towards renewable energy and financing sustainable infrastructure projects.

Issuing international bonds in an untapped new market, backed by the African Development Bank, helps diversify financing sources and builds on previous efforts, including the green bonds launched in 2020.” she added.

AfDB Director General for North Africa, Mohamed El Azizi described the approval as historic and stated that “the partial credit guarantee will enable Egypt to enhance its credit rating and catalyze financing from international investors on competitive terms and pricing.”

Egypt’s economy has been on a downward slide in recent years. The country is currently ranked 11th out of 14 countries in the Middle East/North Africa region, and its overall score is below the regional and world averages.

The bond is part of a recent partnership between China and Africa. Panda bond is a renminbi (RMB)-denominated bond issued in mainland China by a foreign entity such as a national government, local government, multilateral development bank, regional development bank or non-financial institution.

Related Topics:AFDB Egypt Featured Panda Bond

Click to comment

VenturesNow

Kenya: Parliament approves appointment of Kamau Thugge as central bank governor

Published

13 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Months after throwing open the position for the country’s top banker, Kenya’s parliament has approved the appointment of Kamau Thugge as the country’s central bank governor.

The National Assembly on Wednesday approved the
appointment of economist and senior civil servant who was nominated by President William Ruto as the next apex bank chief.

Thugge, who served as principal secretary in the finance ministry until mid-2018, was nominated after serving as one of the president’s senior economic advisers since late last year.

He shook off competition from others shortlisted candidates like Adan Mohamed, who served in the cabinet from 2013-2022, with four others also interviewed for the role.

The new central bank governor will be faced with the immediate pressure of stabilizing the country’s monetary policy as the East African giant currently faces a shortage of funds amidst rising public debt.

Despite the odds, the World Bank in a report earlier today expects growth to edge up to 5.0% in 2023, underpinned by a recovery in agriculture.

VenturesNow

Ghana presents ‘working proposal’ for debt restructuring— IMF sources

Published

13 hours ago

June 7, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

West African country, Ghana has made a major move at resolving its debt crisis as the country has presented debt restructuring proposal to its creditors.

According to sources quoted by Reuters, a “working proposal” has been submitted to help the country escape its worst economic crisis in a generation.

One of the sources revealed that the proposal was a first attempt to engage the official creditor committee after its formation in May. It should be recalled that the Paris Club last month announced that official sector of creditors of Ghana had formed a committee co-chaired by China and France for debt restructuring talks.

The plan is to end restructuring of domestic debt before turning to negotiations with its official bilateral creditors and international bondholders, a government official said.

Ghana is one of several cash-strapped countries facing unprecedented delays in getting bailouts as China, its biggest bilateral creditor with about $1.7 billion of debt and Western economies disagree over how debt relief should be structured.

The first formal review of the programme will hold in the coming months as an IMF team will visit Ghana between 8th and 15th of June.