(Business in Cameroon) - Only a year after its issuance in rather unfavourable conditions in November 2015, particularly a record interest rate at 9.75% and only FCfa 375 billion finally against the 750 billion requested, the first Eurobond of Cameroon is increasingly whetting the appetite of investors on the secondary market of the Dublin stock market (Ireland) on which it is listed, we learned from reliable sources.

The least of these investors, who decided to bet on the very first Eurobond in the history of Cameroonian public finance, is certainly not Exotix Partners. This investment firm specialised in frontier markets, we learned, has just added the sovereign bonds of Cameroon and Ghana in its bond portfolio top 5. These two products replace those of Kenya, which will mature in 2024, and Nigerian treasury bonds.

Mr Culverhouse, Manager of the Research Department at Exotix Partners, explains this interest for Cameroonian bonds by the fact that this country shows, according to him, the most solid issuing profile in the CEMAC area. Even if, he points out, that said profile has been globally impacted by the drop in oil revenues observed throughout the whole community to which Cameroon belongs. To confirm this stance, the issuance value of the 2015 Cameroonian Eurobond, with a maturity of 10 years, just reached 105% of its nominal value on the secondary market of the Dublin stock exchange, with a rate of return currently peaking at 8.5%.

With such indicators, which provide ample information on the degree of confidence that investors have in public Cameroonian stocks, it is probable that the State of Cameroon will have a less mitigated success (better interest rate and the possibility of raising the full amount requested) than in 2015, should it proceed with the issuance of a new Eurobond in the current situation.

Brice R. Mbodiam