Treasury picks advisers for Sh153 billion Eurobond sale

Kenya has mandated four banks, including Citigroup Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co to manage a sale of eurobonds planned within the next two months, according to four people familiar with the plan.

The ministry also chose Standard Chartered Bank Plc and Standard Bank Group’s Kenyan unit, Stanbic Holdings, to help with the sale, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the appointment has yet to be made public.

Unanswered calls

Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich did not answer two calls to his mobile phone on Wednesday, while Treasury Director of Budget Geoffrey Mwau declined to comment when asked about the planned sale on Tuesday.

The Treasury will seek to raise between $1.5 billion (Sh153 billion) to $3 billion (Sh309 billion) in bonds, with a tenor of up 15 years, according to two of the people. JPMorgan, Citigroup, Standard Chartered, and Stanbic declined to comment.

Kenya is increasing the amount of funding it raises from foreign sources as the Central Bank forecasts an acceleration in growth to 6.2 per cent in 2018. President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration would be joining the likes of Angola, Ghana, and Nigeria in seeking to sell dollar-denominated debt to capitalise on rampant demand for emerging-market assets.

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The Government plans to raise $3.2 billion (Sh326 billion) from external sources in the fiscal year that ends June 30, according to the Treasury’s latest budget policy statement.

The Government has already raised $750 million (Sh76.5 billion) commercially this year through a loan from a syndicate of lenders.