Abuja — Some African countries may seek to exchange their sovereign debt for new concessional paper to avoid using funds needed to battle the fast-moving coronavirus to pay private creditors, according to a United Nations body.

The AU, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and a group of finance ministers from the continent are designing a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) for the swap. The mechanism would be underwritten by a triple-A-rated multilateral lender or central bank and used to convert commercial debt into longer-maturity paper with a five-year grace period and lower coupons, according to the commission. ..

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