Citi Says African Borrowers Are Turning Creative on Debt Sales

African governments are increasingly turning to unconventional borrowing strategies, as high global interest rates and volatile currencies keep many shut out of traditional dollar funding markets, according to Citigroup Inc.

Sovereigns and even some corporates are “looking to borrow in lower-yielding currencies, lower-interest rate currencies, not just in Eastern currencies, but also things like Swiss franc, even the euro to a certain extent,” Akin Dawodu, Citigroup’s head of sub-Saharan Africa, said in an interview on the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali. They are doing so “with a view to lowering borrowing costs and debt service costs,” he said.