December 19, 2022—Following the public statements by the Government of Ghana of its intention to seek a restructuring of its external debt, international holders of Ghana’s Eurobonds have organized to form a bondholder creditor committee (the “Committee”). The Committee is representative of a diverse group of institutional investors including mutual funds, asset managers, insurance firms, hedge funds, and family offices.
Steering Members of the Committee include the following holders (acting either directly or for and on behalf of the funds or the accounts they manage): Abrdn, Amundi (UK) Limited, BlackRock, Greylock Capital Management, Ninety One.
The Committee is focused on the orderly and comprehensive resolution of Ghana’s debt challenges, recognizing that such resolution will require fair burden-sharing and collaboration among the Ghanaian authorities, private creditors (both domestic and international) and official sector creditors. The Committee welcomes the authorities’ ongoing engagement with the International Monetary Fund (the “IMF”) and the recent announcement of the Staff Level Agreement.
The Committee notes that a process of good faith negotiation would avoid unilateral actions and would require, inter alia, the timely exchange of detailed economic and financial information among the committee, the Ghanaian authorities and the IMF, and would need to be anchored in reasonably feasible economic adjustment by the Ghanaian authorities. In this regard, the Committee endorses the Institute of International Finance’s Principles for Stable Capital Flows and Fair Debt Restructuring, which provide meaningful guidance for successful sovereign debt restructurings. The Committee stands ready for a swift engagement on that basis.
The Committee aims at securing an outcome that is both equitable to creditors and responsive to the economic and social challenges facing Ghana. A key factor in measuring the success of Ghana’s debt resolution would be the timely restoration of international market access, which remains critical for Ghana to meet its development objectives.
The Committee has appointed Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as legal advisor and Rothschild & Co as financial advisor.
Holders of the Eurobonds interested in receiving more information are encouraged to contact ghana.bondholders@rothschildandco.com or tlaryea@orrick.com (+ 1 (202) 255 8902).
