Moody’s rating downgrade hardens credit conditions for upcoming foreign-currency-denominated operation

On July 27, 2023, U.S. rating agency Moody’s published a rating action downgrading “Cameroon’s foreign-currency and local-currency long-term issuer ratings, as well as its senior unsecured debt rating, to Caa1 from B2.” Moody’s justifies that rating decision by the country’s “delays in meeting a series of external debt service payments in late 2022 and into 2023.” “Moody’s considers the delayed payment to Deutsche Bank Spain, in particular, to be an incident of default,” it added. This rating is highly likely to affect the country’s borrowing capacities since it places Cameroon in the category of risky borrowers that are highly likely…