The Impact of Human Right Law on the Effectiveness of Sovereign Bond Financing for Development: the Case of Cameroon’s ECMR 5.60% Bond

There is a need for capital by developing countries in Sub Saharan Africa, to finance development. Dwindling traditional sources of development capital need to be augmented and complemented by innovative sources of development capital in these countries. One of such innovative sources is sovereign bond finance. However, this form of finance comes through the capital markets. It is not concessional and is fraught with inherent risks. There is therefore the need to analyse its effectiveness as a source of development capital.
In evaluating the effectiveness of this source of finance, this thesis uses human rights law to assess how effective sovereign bond finance is as a form of development capital in Cameroon, and whether the development effects of sovereign bond finance for development can be enhanced. Using a human rights-based framework this research shows how the use of human rights law enhances the effectiveness of this form of finance and provides for equitable development for all the stakeholders of development.
This thesis contributes to knowledge by demonstrating empirically the impact of human rights law on sovereign bond finance for development. It applies human rights law to a development project carried out with this source of finance and shows that the application from conception to evaluation enhances the effectiveness of sovereign bond for development. It does this by using a socio-legal methodology to analyse the case of Cameroon’s ECMR 5.60% 2010-2015 sovereign bond.
The findings show, firstly that there is need for caution in the use of this source as development capital. This is because sovereign bond is not inherently development finance, and it is only by using a human rights framework in the process of the bond issue that the risks can be minimised while maximising the opportunities of this source of finance. Secondly this thesis found that although at the aggregate level there seem to be economic development by the augmentation of electricity production by the dam, the local population did not benefit from this project but were rather disadvantaged with no improvement in their lives and so failing to achieve an equitable development for all stakeholders. Finally, the findings of this thesis show that using human rights law in the process of bond financing for development, augments the opportunities associated with this form of capital as a source of development finance thereby enhancing the effectiveness of bond finance as a source of development capital for sub-Saharan African countries.
This thesis therefore concludes that human right law positively impacts on the effectiveness of sovereign bond finance as a sustainable source of development finance for sub-Saharan Africa if a human rights-based approach is used from the conception, realisation, and evaluation of not only the sovereign bond itself but also the intended development projects to be carried out with the proceeds of the bond issue.