Ghana Investors Agree Early Payment of Energy Debt as Vote Looms
Ghana’s creditors have agreed to an early repayment of all outstanding energy bonds, following a meeting this week.
The bondholders present at a Nov. 26 special meeting “unanimously proposed and resolved to authorize the modification of the final maturity or redemption date and interest payment dates of all the company’s outstanding bonds to Monday 2 Dec. 2024,” Esla Plc said in an emailed statement sent by the Ghana Stock Exchange.
Esla is a special-purpose vehicle created by President Nana Akufo-Addo in 2017 to sell bonds and use the proceeds to pay arrears in the energy sector.
A spokeswoman for the finance ministry declined to comment by phone.
With fresh elections due Dec. 7 and Akufo-Addo stepping down after his second and last four-year term, investors will now get paid before his mandate expires on Jan. 7.
The company has 6.4 billion cedis ($414 million) in outstanding bonds, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The original coupons on the debt of between 19.5% and 20.5% were reduced to between 8.35% and 15% as part of the domestic debt exchange program last year. The maturities were also altered to between 2027 to 2038 from 2027 to 2034, prior to debt restructuring.
Ghana embarked on a debt revamp in December 2022 to qualify for an International Monetary Fund bailout after loans ballooned and it could no longer service its obligations.
Including eurobonds and bilateral credit, the country has reworked more than 60% of its $49 billion public debt in the exercise, which concluded in October.
