Kenya will hold a non-deal roadshow later this month to gauge investor interest in a planned $300 million Eurobond, Finance Minister Amos Kimunya told Reuters on Friday. The economic secretary of the finance ministry, Kamau Thugge, said the sale will probably take place in early 2008 and lead managers would be chosen soon.
"We will be holding a roadshow for the Eurobond on October 24, it will be a non-deal roadshow," Kimunya said. "We want to issue $300 million." Speaking on the sidelines of a conference, he said bond proceeds would be spent on boosting infrastructure. S&P rates Kenya 'B+' with a stable outlook. Thugge said the government hopes to get a sovereign Fitch rating soon and will meet Fitch officials on October 29.
He said finance ministry officials will also meet investors in Washington DC during the upcoming meetings of the International Monetary Fund. "We will do this (bond) by the end of the first of the first quarter of 2008, it will probably be in January or February," Thugge told Reuters on the sidelines of the same conference.
Last month Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African country other than South Africa to issue a Eurobond, selling $750 million in a deal almost four times oversubscribed. Many other African countries also have bond plans, after a historic debt-forgiveness deal in 2005. Kimunya said the government hopes to complete the planned sale of a 25 percent stake in leading telecom firm Safaricom by November despite hurdles, though he acknowledged it could be delayed slightly into December.
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