Senegalese President Macky Sall’s pledge to step down at the end of his term was cheered by investors, following weeks of turmoil sparked by his attempt to stay in power, Bloomberg News reported. Prices on Senegal’s dollar eurobonds rose on Friday for the first time in four days, lowering yields on the notes due May 2033 by 10 basis points to 8.73% after his announcement late the previous evening. The nation’s dollar bonds due March 2048 also advanced.
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Senegal
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund approved a 3-year Extended Credit Facility and Extended Fund Facility for about $1.51 billion with Senegal, and a $324 million arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility, the IMF said on Monday, Reuters reported. The EFF/ECF program will help address macroeconomic imbalances while the RSF arrangement will help with longer-term challenges related to climate change, the fund said.
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Moody’s has clashed with the UN after putting five countries on review for a downgrade in recent weeks, saying that a G20-backed debt suspension scheme poses risks to private creditors, the Financial Times reported. The rating agency took action against Ethiopia, Pakistan, Cameroon, Senegal and the Ivory Coast, after the countries opted into a G20-backed initiative that allows them to freeze official bilateral debt repayments due this year to member nations and members of the Paris Club, a group representing major credit countries.
Australian-listed oil and gas company FAR Ltd said on Wednesday its Senegalese unit had defaulted on its obligations to the Sangomar joint venture, as the company looked to sell its interest in the project, Reuters reported. The company owns 15% of the Sangomar oil and gas field being developed off Senegal, while Cairn Energy holds 40%, Australia’s Woodside 35%, and Senegal’s national oil company Petrosen 10%, which it has the right to increase to 18%.
The African Development Bank is seeking to triple its capital base to accommodate surging demand for emergency loans from African states and businesses hit by falling export income and sharp declines in foreign investment and remittances. Donald Kaberuka, the AfDB’s president, will put the plans to the bank’s annual general assembly in Dakar this week in one of the first tests of developed countries’ commitments to financing an economic rescue package for Africa.
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