Junk Ratings Across Africa, Yet Bond Yields Don't Show It
- African Eurobonds return about 9% in 2017 vs 7.7% for EM debt
- Moody’s downgraded Namibia’s credit rating to junk this month
And Then There Were None
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Every African nation that’s sold dollar debt now has at least one junk rating, but it would be hard to tell by looking at the bond market.
The average yield on sovereign Eurobonds in Africa has hovered near the lowest level in two years this month, according to a Standard Bank Group Ltd. index, even after Moody’s Investors Service cut Namibia to below investment grade on Aug. 11. The world’s biggest producer of marine diamonds had been the continent’s only dollar-bond issuer without a junk rating.