Ghana to launch bonds exchange next week

Ghana will invite investors in its Eurobonds to exchange their bonds for reissued ones next week, Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam said on Thursday, one of the last steps in its protracted debt overhaul.

Bondholders will have a chance to swap their holdings for a so-called "disco" bond, offering an interest rate of 5% climbing to 6% after mid-2028, and with maturities across three instruments ranging between 2026 and 2029.

That option will come with a write-down of principal of 37%.

Restructuring deal

The second is a par bond option capped at $1.6 billion with three instruments, of which the main one will pay a coupon of 1.5% and mature in 2037 with no haircut apart from a write-down of past due interest.

The offer will last for 21 days, Adam told Reuters.

The West African gold and cocoa producer defaulted on most of its $30 billion in external debt in 2022, after the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and higher global interest rates exacerbated years of heavy borrowing.

It announced a restructuring deal with its creditors on June 24, hot on the heels of Zambia, which also completed its debt rework process the same month.

➤Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.