China39;s president pledged support for African panda issuers
High debt loads among economies seen dampening issuance
Concerns abound over liquidity of Chinese domestic markets

NAIROBISHANGHAI, Sept 25 Reuters Plans by African governments to raise money on China39;s domestic debt markets via socalled panda bonds could be undone by their heavy debt loads and a wider lack of market infrastructure, investors and analysts said.

African governments seeking to tap fresh pools of money have sold bonds in currencies other than their own, mostly U.S. dollar and sometimes euros, for three decades.

But gaining a foothold in the world39;s second largest bond market has proven elusive. Changing that is high on the agenda for both Beijing and cashhungry African governments.

At a China Africa summit in Beijing this month, President Xi Jinping said he wanted to encourage and support Africa in issuing panda bonds in China.

But there are some very basic hurdles to issuing on the Chinese mainland for African issuers.

The Chinese yuan isn39;t freely traded worldwide, which makes these bonds less attractive, said Lynda Iroulo, assistant professor at Georgetown University in Qatar.

Panda bonds are a growing market. Issuance in the first three quarters of 2023 surged to 18 billion, data from the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors showed, surpassing 11 billion for all of 2022.

The boost followed Beijing relaxing the rules early last year to make…