Tanzania has revived plans to list a debut Tsh1.1 trillion ($700 million) Eurobond to fund infrastructure projects.
Recently, the government short-listed three international sovereign rating agencies — Fitch, Standard & Poors and Moodys — whose evaluation starts on June 17. The winner is expected to be named on July 15.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Ramadhan Khija said the groundwork and documentation had been completed, paving the way for the procurement process.
“We have opened the tenders and the evaluation process is going to start on June 17,” said Mr Khija. “If we are rated well, we will have the advantage of getting a sizeable amount of money that will enable us to invest in our roads, railways, ports and power generation.”
Eurobonds are attractive financing tools issued in a currency other than that of the country or market where they are listed. They are attractive because they give issuers the flexibility to choose the country in which to offer their bond, based on the regulatory constraints.
Tanzania’s quest to issue a Eurobond has been a long-drawn out affair. It was announced some years ago and was initially expected to be issued in the 2012/13 financial year. In 2011, the government appointed Citibank Group of the UK through the Bank of Tanzania as a transaction adviser.
The plans to issue the bond were, however, shelved in the wake of jitters caused by the global economic crisis.
Last year, Tanzania said it planned to start opening up its capital account to enable it to attract more investments, starting with its EAC peers and then reaching out to the rest of the world by 2015.
If it sticks to the plan, Tanzania will be joining a growing list of African nations such as Zambia, Angola, Rwanda and Kenya that plan to raise capital in the global market.
In July last year, Kenya re-announced a long-standing plan to issue a $500 million Eurobond.
