Ethiopia mulls bond market debut by early January

Ethiopia aims to make its first foray into the international bond markets by early January, the Finance ministry has said in a plan that would be closely watched by investors who have snapped up other African countries' debt.

The government has said it was considering issuing a Eurobond and other bonds after similar moves elsewhere on the continent, including Kenya, which issued a $2 billion Eurobond in June that was heavily oversubscribed.

 "We are aiming for late December to early January at the latest as the time for our debut into the international capital markets," Finance ministry spokesman Haji Ibsa told Reuters."Bonds are very much part of the plan to improve infrastructure," he said, citing plans for railway, road and power links with Djibouti and Kenya.