Explainer-Senegal's election: What is at stake for investors?

investing.com:

By Rachel Savage

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) — International investors will be closely monitoring the presidential election in Senegal, scheduled for March 24, after delays incited widespread protests.

The country, usually one of coup-prone West Africa's most stable democracies, has been gripped by tension since early February, when President Macky Sall tried to postpone the vote that had been due to take place on Feb. 25 by 10 months, leading to warnings of democratic backsliding.

WHAT ARE INVESTORS FOCUSED ON?

Senegal has about $4.2 billion of outstanding international bonds, two issued in euros and three in U.S. dollars. For investors in those bonds, the current focus is on whether the presidential vote will be peaceful and fair.

«The market will be looking very clearly to understand whether or not the voters will be able to express their view in what is perceived to be a credible way,» said Yvette Babb, a portfolio manager at William Blair Investment Management.

Babb said there was no clear consensus among bond investors as to who would prevail among the 19 presidential candidates, of whom one would have to get more than half of the votes to avoid a second-round run-off vote.

«If you look at the market pricing, it is in my view mainly about the process and not necessarily about the outcome,» she said. «The market is most certainly first focused on just getting this behind us.»

WHAT ABOUT ECONOMIC POLICY?

Senegal is generally seen as business friendly and with good economic prospects, thanks to natural gas projects that are set to start production later this year and that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts will boost GDP growth to double digits by 2025.

It secured $1.9 billion of IMF funding in October, which