(Updates with Gabon confirmation)
By Tosin Sulaiman and Bate Felix
LONDON, June 21 (Reuters) – Gabon has paid a delayed coupon
on its $1 billion Eurobond after settling a dispute with a South
African company that had frozen bond payment funds via a court
order, an adviser to the Gabon government said on Friday.
This means Gabon, one of the few sub-Saharan African
countries to have issued dollar bonds, has managed to avoid
falling into default because it has paid the $32 million coupon,
originally due on June 12, within the 10-day grace period.
“The coupon has been paid…as we said we would do,”
Serge-Maurice Pambou, adviser to Gabon’s economy minister, told
Reuters.
This was the second time Gabon was forced to delay payouts
to bondholders, following a previous case in 2008 and Pambou
said there would be no repeat.
“Following the instructions of the head of state, the
government has been asked to…make sure things like this do not
happen again,” he said.
Earlier on Friday, Standard Poor’s affirmed its BB- rating
on Gabon with a stable outlook.
“We consider that the delayed coupon payment was unrelated
to Gabon’s ability and willingness to make that payment,” SP
said.
Continued…
