Funds Flock to Senegal's Eurobond, Placing $9 Billion of Orders

(Bloomberg) -- Senegal’s $1.1 billion Eurobond was more than eight times oversubscribed, as investors bet on political stability in one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies.

The West African nation sold the 16-year securities on Tuesday with a 6.25 percent yield, after initially offering 6.5 percent. Investors placed $9.3 billion of orders, the Ministry of Economy said in an emailed statement. The money will be used for infrastructure projects, including a regional commuter train and power supply.

Senegal’s economic prospects have been boosted by offshore oil and gas finds. Kosmos Energy Ltd. announced the discovery of a gas field this month that could hold about six times what the U.K. consumes annually. The economy may grow 6.8 percent this year, the most in sub-Saharan Africa after Ethiopia and Ivory Coast, according to the International Monetary Fund.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., Natixis SA, Societe Generale SA, Citibank Inc. and Standard Chartered Plc arranged the sale, Senegal’s first international issuance since 2014. The offering comes as regional neighbor Ivory Coast, which has been rocked by a mutiny that ended on Tuesday, looks to sell almost $2 billion of Eurobonds by early June.

To contact the reporters on this story: Paul Wallace in Lagos at pwallace25@bloomberg.net, Malick Ciss in Dakar at mciss@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dana El Baltaji at delbaltaji@bloomberg.net, John Viljoen