Ghana has announced plans to issue green and social bonds of up to $2 billion by November this year, making it the first African country to sell debt to fund development programs.
The country, which is planning to borrow up to $5 billion on international markets this year, says proceeds from the bond sale would be used to refinance debt used for environmental and social projects and pay for education or health.
The expectation is that the bonds will be issued in the fall, and the maximum can be $2 billion. The country already sold $3.03 billion in March out of the $5 billion for which it has budget approval. Out of the total, $3.5 billion will be used to refinance debt already raised. Our actual new debt will be $1.5 billion.
Ghanaian Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.
The country would be pioneering social bonds in Africa. Only a few sovereigns have sold them so far, including Ecuador and Chile. The government will use the bond sale proceeds to forge ahead with a free secondary-school initiative started in 2017, among other programs.
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