The 12-Year Senior Fixed-Rate Bond is expected to mature on December 29, 2031, and will have a coupon rate or yield of 20.50%.
The government of Ghana has obtained GH¢430.4 million from the sale of Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA) bonds opened to investors on 30 December 2019 and closed on January 13, 2019.
According to a circular by the Lead Arranger, Fidelity Bank, the interest payment will be effected semi-annually, beginning July 13, 2020, until maturity.
The reason for the sale of the ESLA bonds
ESLA Plc was seeking to raise GHS260 million additional funds via the 12-year Ghana cedi denominated bond.
The minimum and maximum issue sizes were expected to be GH¢100 million and GH¢1 billion, respectively.
ESLA Plc has, since inception, issued bonds worth GHS6.664 billion. This resulted from issuances in November 2017 (7-year tranche E1 and 10-year tranche E2), January 2018 (tap of 10-year tranche E2-B), August 2018 (tap of 10-year tranche E2-C) and June 2019 (10-year tranche E3), August (tap of 10-year tranche E2-C) and June 2019 (10-year tranche E3).
Significantly, a buy-back and subsequent cancellation of bonds worth GH¢664 million in June 2019 brought the total outstanding bond under the programme to GH¢6 billion.