By Ben Edwards
Kenya is set to start meeting investors this week about its
long-awaited debut dollar-bond sale.
Barclays, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Standard Bank and QNB
Capital, a unit of Qatar National Bank, are arranging the meetings,
which will take place in the U.K. and the U.S. between Thursday and
June 13, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Kenya had originally planned to issue its debut dollar-bond last
fall but delayed the sale amid protracted negotiations with bankers
in London, a Finance Ministry official told The Wall Street Journal
at the time.
The potential deal could come amid a flurry of African issuance,
with Morocco, Ghana and Ivory Coast all expected to sell bonds
soon.
So far this year, only Zambia has sold bonds in the global debt
market, raising $1 billion from a 10-year deal.
Borrowing costs for African countries rose in the second half of
last year after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would slow the
pace of its monetary stimulus program, prompting some investors to
pull their cash out of developing economies. But with yields on
haven bonds remaining stubbornly low, investors are returning to
emerging markets again. Last week, $1.1 billion of cash was pumped
into emerging-market debt funds, the ninth consecutive week of
inflows, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Write to Ben Edwards at ben.edwards@wsj.com
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