YAOUNDE: Cameroon sold US$550mil of bonds, the latest in a wave of African countries taking advantage of benign market conditions to raise fresh financing.

The seven-year US dollar bonds were priced to yield 10.75%. The bonds were sold through a private placement.

Other African nations, including Ivory Coast, Kenya, Benin and Senegal, also sought funding this year. That’s after being effectively locked out of international debt markets for nearly two years as the US Federal Reserve was raising interest rates.

Cameroon offered “an enticing yield for a shorter-duration bond from an issuer under an International Monetary Fund programme, and one that’s also recently demonstrated an ability to continue tapping other sources of concessional finance,” said Matthew Greenman, an emerging markets sovereign credit analyst at Thrivent.

Citigroup Global Markets Ltd was the sole placing agent on the debt deal. The bank, along with Cygnum Capital Middle East Ltd, were joint arrangers.

Cameroon’s credit rating was affirmed by Fitch at B in May, with a negative outlook. S&P rates Cameroon’s foreign currency debt at B-, with a stable outlook.

 - Bloomberg