Ethiopia plans first sovereign bond sale While activist Bob Geldof worries whether Africans know Christmas is coming in his new charity single, the once-famished land that spurred him to raise money for the continent 30 years ago is turning to the international capital market. Ethiopia is for the first time tapping the sovereign bond market as it launches an international roadshow this week looking to raise up to $1bn with a 10-year bond from foreign investors with the help of JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank. The effort will see one of the biggest, most closed - and, some observers say, most promising - African economies tap the global debt market, joining a number of African countries that have issued similar bonds in the past five years. Ethiopian officials are scheduled to travel on Wednesday to London and later to several other European capitals before flying into the US next week. Foreign investors are already lining up for the bond, with many saying it would be oversubscribed as pension funds, insurers and sovereign wealth funds seek higher-yielding assets. "Ethiopia is a very interesting story in Africa - low debt levels and fast economic growth," said Kevin Daly, senior manager at Aberdeen Asset Management. Although Ethiopia is largely closed to foreign investors, outsiders are racing to gain a foothold in the country of 90m people. KKR, one of the world's largest private equity groups, this year chose Ethiopia for its first investment in Africa, spending $200m on a stake in a flower farm. The roadshow coincides with a growing controversy in Africa about Mr Geldof's 30th anniversary "Do They Know It's Christmas" song. The single, which has already hit number one in many countries, has triggered a wave of complaints in social media across the continent, with many tweeting that the lyrics are reminiscent of the situation in Africa three decades ago, not today. When Mr Geldof visited the country in 1984, Ethiopians starved as the result of a politically induced famine. But Ethiopia is now one of the world's fastest growing economies and poverty, while still high, has fallen sharply since then. The Ethiopian debut in the capital markets will nonetheless provide ammunition to those in Africa and outside who worry that poor African countries are taking on too much debt, repeating the mistakes of the 1980s and 1990s. Kenya, which in June raised $2bn from international investors, the largest debut for an African country in the sovereign bond market, returned to the market on Tuesday seeking more money. Investors and bankers said Kenya was trying to raise an additional $500m-$750m by reopening the bonds it sold initially this year. The so-called "tap" operation to raise more funds, the first in sub-Saharan Africa, was greeted with strong demand from European and American investors. Gabriel Negatu, regional head of the African Development Bank in Nairobi and an Ethiopian national, said the sovereign bond by his home country was a "good initiative" to finance infrastructure. Ethiopia plans to use the proceeds to pay for an ambitious building spree, as the government attempts to deliver roads, rail and a series of large hydropower dams. Lars Christian Moller, lead economist at the World Bank in Ethiopia, said it was clear that public investment remained high and the government was willing to incur a higher price to finance it. "If they're able to lock in a good interest rate now, it's a good moment to do that," he said. Investors said Ethiopia was likely to pay a yield of about 6 per cent to 7 per cent, more than Kenya paid but still low by any historical standard. Additional reporting by Elaine Moore in London