The short version
Three of Benin's bonds are in euros and two in US dollars. All five repay in instalments, which means the amount still owed falls while the bond is still trading — and a bond's price depends on how much is left.
One of the five is documented end to end: the 2035, Africa's first sovereign SDG bond, whose term sheet the Ministry of Finance published in full. The other four are not. We know they repay in instalments; we do not know the dates, and for three of them we do not know the amounts either.
One detail worth carrying: Benin's euro bonds pay interest once a year, not twice. Assuming otherwise would misstate the interest that has built up since the last payment.
The five bonds
In order of maturity.
4.875% due 19 January 2032 — euros
Sold in January 2021 as the eleven-year half of a €1bn pair. In January 2025 Benin bought a large part of it back, and how large is the one number on this page that three separate sources cannot agree on.
- Coupon
- 4.875% confirmed
- Final maturity
- 19 January 2032 confirmed
- Originally issued
- €700,000,000 confirmedNot €500,000,000, which is what an earlier note of ours had. The Ministry's own announcement describes a €1bn deal split €700m at eleven years and €300m at thirty-one.
- Repayment
- Repays in instalmentsNo document we have reached sets out the instalment dates or amounts for this bond. not confirmed
- Interest dates
- Not sourced not confirmed
- Still outstanding
- We hold €345,085,520 inferredSee below — three sources, three answers. inferred
4.950% due 22 January 2035 — euros, the SDG bond
Africa's first sovereign SDG bond, sold in July 2021. It is also the only one of Benin's five bonds where every field we need is set out in a public document.
- Coupon
- 4.950% confirmed
- Final maturity
- 22 January 2035 confirmed
- Originally issued
- €500,000,000 confirmed
- Repayment
- Three equal instalments, on 22 January in 2033, 2034 and 2035 confirmedThe dates and the word “equal” are quoted from the Ministry's term sheet. The exact percentages are our arithmetic from that word rather than a quoted table. inferred
- Interest dates
- 22 January, once a year confirmed
- Interest convention
- Actual/Actual confirmed
7.960% due 13 February 2038 — US dollars
Benin's first dollar bond, sold in February 2024 and topped up two years later. The two parts were merged into one bond.
- Coupon
- 7.960% confirmed
- Final maturity
- 13 February 2038 confirmed
- Originally issued
- US$750,000,000, plus a US$350,000,000 top-up in January 2026, merged into one bond of US$1,100,000,000 confirmed
- Repayment
- Three equal instalments of US$250,000,000 confirmedBut that was stated against the original US$750,000,000. Whether the top-up re-cut the instalments to about US$366.7m each, or left them at US$250m with a larger final payment, is not sourced — and the instalment dates are not sourced either. Do not assume thirds of US$1.1bn. not confirmed
- Interest dates
- Not sourced not confirmed
8.375% due 23 January 2041 — US dollars
Sold in January 2025, at the same time as the buy-back of the 2032.
- Coupon
- 8.375% confirmed
- Final maturity
- 23 January 2041 confirmed
- Originally issued
- US$500,000,000 confirmed
- Repayment
- Repays in instalments — counsel's note on the deal calls them amortising notesNo document we have reached sets out the instalment dates or amounts for this bond. not confirmed
- Interest dates
- Not sourced not confirmed
6.875% due 19 January 2052 — euros
The thirty-one-year half of the January 2021 pair, and Benin's longest bond.
- Coupon
- 6.875% confirmed
- Final maturity
- 19 January 2052 confirmed
- Originally issued
- €300,000,000 confirmed
- Repayment
- Repays in instalments — the deal is described as having a final maturity in 2052, which implies payments before itNo document we have reached sets out the instalment dates or amounts for this bond. not confirmed
- Interest dates
- Not sourced not confirmed
What we are not sure about
This is the larger part of the page, which is the honest shape for this sovereign.
Four of five repayment schedules are unevidenced
For the 2032, the 2038, the 2041 and the 2052 we have no document giving the instalment dates. For the 2032, the 2041 and the 2052 we do not have the amounts either. The 2038's amounts are known only as they stood before the bond was topped up.
We could fill these in from the pattern the region tends to follow — three equal instalments over the final three years. We have not, and Côte d'Ivoire is the reason: next door, that same assumption is wrong on every single line, and the documents that prove it are only visible if you go and read them. An assumption that is right most of the time is not a term.
Three sources, three different answers on the 2032
In January 2025 Benin bought back part of its 2032 bond. How much is genuinely unsettled. The Republic's counsel put the amount accepted at €250 million. The International Monetary Fund reported that 45.3% was repurchased at a discount, which on a €700 million bond is about €317 million. Our own stored figure implies about €355 million was retired.
The €250 million may well be the cash paid rather than the face value bought — which would reconcile it with a larger amount bought at a discount. That is a hypothesis, not a finding, and we are not going to present it as one. The figure that would settle it sits in the tender results announcement of 20 January 2025, which we have not been able to obtain.
Nothing contradicts our stored figure. It is simply unverified, and the one precise public number disagrees with it by about €38 million. We have left it alone.
Interest dates on four lines
Only the 2035 has a documented interest date. For the other four we have not sourced one. Where the bond is in euros we know from the 2035 that Benin pays annually, but knowing the frequency is not knowing the day.
What is not on this page
Benin's sukuk
Benin sold a US$500 million sukuk — a bond structured to comply with Islamic finance principles — in January 2026. It is not on this site.
That is a scope decision rather than an oversight, and it is the same question raised by Egypt's samurai and panda bonds and Kenya's private placement. If this site covers the dollar and euro Eurobond market, the sukuk is correctly outside it. If it covers a government's external commercial borrowing, it is missing. The three ought to be decided together, and they have not been yet.
Where every figure here comes from
No data vendor supplies the terms on this page. Each source below is a public document.
| What it tells us | Source |
|---|---|
| That the January 2021 deal was €700m at eleven years and €300m at thirty-one — correcting our own earlier assumption that the 2032 was a €500m bond | Republic of Benin, Ministry of Finance, communiqué on the January 2021 dual-tranche issue |
| Everything on the 2035: its three equal instalments and their dates, its annual interest date, its size and its interest convention | Republic of Benin, SDG bond term sheet, July 2021 |
| The February 2024 debut dollar issue, the January 2025 issue and concurrent buy-back, and the January 2026 top-up and sukuk | Published deal notes by the Republic's transaction counsel |
| That 45.3% of the 2032 was repurchased at a discount | International Monetary Fund, Country Report 25/185 |
How we work out the price
Nothing on this page is a price. Terms change rarely — a coupon, a maturity date and a repayment schedule are fixed when the bond is sold — so a reference page can state them once and stand. Prices change all day, so they live on the price page and only there. If a figure here ever disagrees with one there, this page is the one to distrust, and we would like to hear about it.
Information only. This page is general educational material about how this market works. Nothing here is investment, financial, legal or tax advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Prices shown elsewhere on this site are indicative and are not an offer to trade.
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