(Reuters) – Kenya stepped up its efforts to ease its financing pressures on Wednesday, saying it would buy back up to half a billion dollars of its existing debt and issue longer-term replacement bonds to fund it.
Finance Minister John Mbadi said last week there was scope to smooth the country’s borrowing curve further, after the government tapped the market twice last year to also pay off maturing bonds.
Wednesday’s move saw the government launch buy-back tenders for up to $350 million of its 8% bond due in 2032 and up to $150 million for its 7.25% 2028 maturing bond , it said in a regulatory notice, inclusive of accrued interest.
The offer, which will close on Feb. 25, will be accompanied by the issuance of a dual-tranche dollar bond with a weighted-average maturity of seven and 12 years.
The move to proactively deal with maturing debt follows a serious bout of market stress in 2024 when concerns around its ability to pay its debt saw the country’s credit rating downgraded and hit its shilling currency .
Kenya is the latest African country to take advantage of the current strong investor appetite for high-yielding but riskier emerging market debt.
The Republic of Congo carried out a similar buyback this month. Ivory Coast also entered the market on Wednesday to issue a 14-year dollar bond, IFR reported.
(Reporting by Duncan Miriri and George Obulutsa; Editing by Marc Jones and Anil D’Silva)
