Ivory Coast selling Africa’s biggest Eurobond

Ivory Coast is selling 1.7 billion euros ($2.1 billion) of bonds in the biggest issuance of debt in the common currency from an African government, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The West African nation is offering 850 euros of 12-year notes paying 5.25 percent and a similar amount of 30-year securities with a coupon of 6.625 percent, said the person, who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorized to speak about the matter.

Price guidance was around 5.375 percent for the 12-year securities and 6.75 percent for the 30-year notes, said the person.

That’s the largest amount of euro-debt issued by an African sovereign since at least the start of this century, when Bloomberg started compiling the data.

Investors submitted bids for 4.8 billion euros by the time final pricing was being decided, said the person.

Calls for comment to government spokesman Bruno Kone and Finance Minister Adama Kone went unanswered.

The world’s biggest cocoa producer is following Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya in tapping international markets before policy-tightening by the Federal Reserve lifts borrowing costs.

African sovereigns are now on course to sell $12.8 billion of Eurobonds in 2018, already more than half the record $18 billion they managed last year and exceeding the total for the whole of 2016.