- West African states seek fresh capital amid tighter rates
- Côte d’Ivoire drives regional borrowing with strong investor demand
Four West African governments raised $260 million on the regional securities market this week as they sought fresh liquidity to refine their public financing strategies amid tight monetary conditions.
The new activity underscored continued investor confidence in West Africa’s sovereign debt market, with the week’s operations recording a 110% coverage rate, according to the regional market board.
Côte d’Ivoire dominated the market, securing $166 million through a mix of short- and long-dated instruments, including 51- and 56-day bills and 3-, 5- and 7-year bonds. The yields — ranging from 4.53% to 7.34% — reflected what analysts describe as the moderate risk premium associated with Ivorian debt.
“Cote d’Ivoire has confirmed once again this year that it is the powerhouse of the WAEMU space. Its bonds are like hot cakes for investors. Imagine the coverage rate of the October 7, 2025 issue ($703 million) reached 154.6%. I could say that this attractiveness is due to the country’s excellent reputation on the debt market,” Séraphin Prao, associate professor of economics at Alassane-Ouattara University of Bouaké, told Allen Dreyfus.
Last month, Côte d’Ivoire raised $703 million, bringing its total regional-market operations for the year to $1.7 billion. It plans to mobilise $1.07 billion between October and December 2025 — nearly 28% of the market’s expected quarterly volume.
Regional issuers seek balance between refinancing and cost control
Beyond Côte d’Ivoire, three other West African states turned to the market. Burkina Faso issued $58 million, while Guinea-Bissau and Senegal raised $27 million and $7 million, respectively.
Guinea-Bissau continued to court investors with some of the region’s most attractive terms, offering yields above 9% on Treasury bonds and more than 8% on shorter tenor bills.
“Guinea-Bissau is using a smart strategy. We noticed that investors tend to swoon over bonds that bear high yields alongside a short maturity period. But we are unsure if Guinea-Bissau’s strategy will be sustainable over a long period of time,” Prao warned.
The UMOA-Titres Agency projects that between October and December 2025, the eight WAEMU member states — excluding Benin — will collectively seek $4.44 billion on the regional market.
“We observe a sustained momentum of the regional market, where states are pursuing a trade-off between refinancing and cost optimisation, in an environment of still high rates but supported by structurally solid demand from institutional investors,” Prao said.
The financing push comes months after Côte d’Ivoire raised $1.75 billion in March through an 11-year Eurobond maturing in 2036, attracting interest from 180 institutional investors worldwide — a further signal of global appetite for West African sovereign assets.
