Bankers from the West Africa subregion are attending a five-day workshop on sovereign borrowing from global capital market in Banjul.

The workshop that commenced on Monday aims to provide participants with in-depth understanding of sovereign borrowing from the capital global markets and broaden their understanding of global markets.

And the meeting brought together official from the Central Bank of The Gambia, Bank of Ghana, Bank of Nigeria, Bank of Sierra Leone, Liberian Bank, and officials from the Finance Ministry of the Gambia and Ghana.

Meanwhile, participants are expected to be taken through on why Capital Markets Matters for an Economy, International markets Access including bonds and debt market, and the roles and responsibilities of the participants.

The participants are also expected to go through the advantages and disadvantages of alternative funding sources from the issuer’s perspective and steps of guidance on international issuance, pricing of a bond, credit risk and analysis.

The five day workshop is organized by the West African Institutes for Financial Economic Management (WAIFEM).

Speaking at the opening ceremony at Paradise Suite Hotel, Lamin Jarjue said: “the objective is to provide participants with in-depth understanding of sovereign borrowing from the capital or global markets, have a broad and deep understanding of global capital markets.”

Representing the Governor of the Central Bank of The Gambia, Karamo Jawara, director of banking at CBG, said: “Global financial conditions in recent years have provided developing countries with opportunities to tap international capital markets by increasing access to non-concessional (commercial) financing.”

He said access to international bond markets brings opportunities to investors and sub-Saharan African countries.

Reporting by Adama Makasuba