On Tuesday, December 2, 2014, the African Development Bank (“AfDB”) rated Aaa (Stable)/AAA (Stable)/AAA (Stable) (Moody’s/Fitch/S&P), successfully priced a ZAR 500 million 3-year ZAR Eurobond due on December 9, 2017 through Morgan Stanley and Standard Bank. The deal pays a coupon of 6.625%. This transaction marks AfDB’s return to the Eurorand market after more than a decade, with the most recent benchmark offering in the currency being a ZAR 2 billion domestically-listed transaction in 2008.
AfDB’s decision to return to the Eurorand market was driven by increased client requirements for ZAR funding, and by the fact that this market has emerged as an attractive and cost-effective source of funding.
The transaction was announced on Tuesday, December 2 at 8:15 am London time, and marketed at 15 basis points (bps) over the R203 September 2017 South African Government issue. Sub-Saharan African Central Banks showed strong interest from the outset, taking 52% of the transaction, the rest being allocated to bank treasuries, private banks and asset managers.
