African borrowers are regaining access to international capital markets, offering governments and companies a fresh opportunity to diversify their funding sources after years of being locked out, according to Citigroup Inc.

“With rates coming down now, I think the markets are reopening to African issuers, namely the European markets,” Miguel Azevedo, managing director and vice-chair of investment banking for Middle East & Africa at Citigroup, said at the EurAfrican Forum near Lisbon on Friday.

He cited an international share sale this month by Guaranty Trust Holding Co. of Nigeria, the lender’s first such offering, as an example.

Separately, Ivory Coast raised 50-billion yen ($338-million) in samurai bonds, the country’s first, last week.

The extra yield investors demand to hold dollar bonds from African nations rather than US Treasuries, known as the sovereign spread, fell to 429 basis points this week, the lowest since December, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. indexes. The spread has narrowed more than 200 basis points since April, when US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements roiled bond markets.

Azevedo said the larger flow of funds from Europe into Africa compared to the US could actually be a “blessing in disguise” because it is helping some nations to further diversify their economies and is boosting intra-continental trade.

“Forcing local trade I think it will be good for Africa,” he said. “The world is becoming less global and it may actually help Africa. When you look at trade in Africa, it’s all about how much you can do domestically these days.”