(Ecofin Agency) - The Ivorian government continues to maintain investor confidence. Just days ago, it completed a bond exchange worth $746.7 million on the WAEMU market.

Côte d’Ivoire has raised CFA147.7 billion (about $244 million) from the regional financial market, reaffirming strong investor interest despite rising borrowing costs.

During the March 18 auction, yields on three-year bonds climbed to 7.64%, up from 7.50% earlier in the month. Five-year bonds also saw a slight increase to 7.45%, compared to 7.41% in the last issuance. Meanwhile, seven-year bonds offered a 6.69% yield—lower than the 7.31% recorded in early March—but demand for this maturity remained weak, with only CFA4.9 billion raised.

Most investors were from Côte d’Ivoire, with Burkina Faso contributing CFA13.8 billion and Senegal adding CFA2.4 billion. Other WAEMU countries sat out this round.

Just days before the auction, Côte d’Ivoire completed a CFA450 billion ($746.7 million) bond swap in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) market. The operation, which exceeded its CFA400 billion target, aimed to ease 2025 debt repayments by replacing existing obligations with new five- and seven-year bonds, carrying interest rates of 5.90% and 6.00%, respectively.

With CFA1.36 trillion already raised this year, Côte d’Ivoire has accounted for more than half of the CFA2.65 trillion borrowed by WAEMU states so far. This underscores the country’s financial dominance in the region but also raises concerns about potential market saturation.