Yields Rise as Ghana Considers $10 Billion Century-Bond Sale
- Sale to be first tranche of $50 billion in 100-year debt
- ‘Huge size’ of potential issue is a concern, Renaissance says
Ghanaian Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said the country is preparing to sell $5 billion to $10 billion in century bonds by the end of the year at a time when rising U.S. rates are making investors wary of emerging-market debt. Yields on the West African nation’s existing Eurobonds jumped.
In what will be the world’s biggest sovereign issuance of 100-year dollar-denominated securities and the first by an African country should the deal proceed, Ghana is planning to raise the debt as the first tranche of a $50 billion bond, Ofori-Atta said in an interview Tuesday in the capital, Accra. The $50 billion will be raised “in bits” through a shelf offering, which allows issuers to a register a security without selling the entire issue at once, said Ofori-Atta.