Ghana has started private debt discussions with its international bondholders and advisors under non-disclosure agreements. According to reports, while several foreign private lenders are represented by Rothschild & Co.,
Ghana, which froze payments on the majority of its external debts last year, has chosen Lazard as its financial consultant. According to data from Refinitiv, Ghana’s dollar-denominated debt has a total value of over $13 billion with maturities ranging from 2023 to 2061.
After signing the NDAs earlier this month, both parties cannot share any information under the agreement with any non-authorised party. Following the common framework platform supported by the Group of 20 major economies, Ghana, which is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a generation, has already reached an agreement to write down its domestic debt and has also requested to rework its bilateral debt.
There is still no official creditor committee in place for negotiations with sovereign creditors like China and the Paris Club. Finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta travelled to China last week to discuss ways to reduce the country’s debt burden and secure additional financing assurances for the economic programme.
Ghana recently said it owed Chinese creditors $1.9 billion.
The country secured a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in December for a $3 billion loan, though asking bilateral lenders to provide financing assurances is a condition for the IMF’s executive board to sign off the programme.
