Ghana completed its sovereign-debt restructuring Wednesday morning when the final cohort of Eurobond holdouts representing $740 million of face-value claims signed onto the $15.0 billion debt-exchange offer first launched in October 2024. The completion ends a three-year process that began with Ghana's December 2022 Eurobond default — the country's first since independence — and delivers $4.7 billion of nominal debt relief plus $7.4 billion of cash-flow relief through 2031.
The exchange terms apply identical haircuts to all participating creditors: a 37% nominal write-down on principal, an extension of average tenor from 6.4 years to 14.2 years, and a coupon step-up structure starting at 5% in 2026 rising to 6% by 2030. The new instruments include a "Past Due Interest" PDI bond covering accrued unpaid interest from December 2022 through restructuring closing. Aggregate creditor participation now stands at 100% versus 98.4% at the November 2024 effective date.
Reform Programme On Track
The completion of the Eurobond restructuring is a key trigger under Ghana's $3 billion Extended Credit Facility with the IMF, with the next $360 million tranche to be released following the May 16 IMF Executive Board review. Ghana has now completed all major creditor classes: $13.1 billion of domestic debt restructured in February 2023, $5.4 billion of bilateral debt reformed at the Common Framework in early 2024, and the $15 billion of commercial creditors now closed.
Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam said in an Accra press conference that "Ghana is fully clear of debt distress and is preparing to return to international capital markets in 2027." The country has hired Citigroup, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered as bookrunners for a planned $750 million sustainability-linked benchmark issuance. S&P Global Ratings is expected to upgrade Ghana from CCC+ to B- in mid-May, while Fitch is expected to follow.
African EM Read-Through
Ghana's completion accelerates the African Eurobond restructuring playbook. Zambia (which restructured in November 2023) is now on a sustained recovery path with the kwacha 14% stronger versus end-2023. Kenya, which is conducting a $2 billion Eurobond exchange and is in active IMF negotiations, traded its 2031 Eurobond up 0.4 cents to 91.6 on the news. Egypt's 2030s rallied 0.8 cents to 85.4. The JPMorgan EMBI Global Diversified Africa sub-index closed up 0.3%.