Ethiopia on Tuesday became Africa's third default in as many years after it failed to meet a $33 million "coupon" payment on its sole international government bond. Africa's second most populous country announced earlier this month that it intended to formally go into default, having been under severe financial strain in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and a two-year civil war that ended in November 2022. It had been supposed to make the payment on Dec. 11, but technically had up until Tuesday to provide the money due to a 14-day "grace period" clause written into the $1 billion bond. The East African country first requested debt relief under the G-20-led initiative in early 2021. Credit ratings agency S&P Global then downgraded the bond, to "Default" on Dec. 15 on the assumption that the coupon payment would not be made.

Source: Ethiopian News December 27, 2023 13:53 UTC