LONDON (Reuters) -Afreximbank has signalled that Ghana has kept up loan repayments, two sources told Reuters. Ghana says it hasn't made debt service payments in two years and it wants to restructure its debt with the African lender.

The African lender, the sources said, told its investors on a May 15 call that Ghana and Malawi - which is also undergoing a debt restructuring - were "up to date" with their loan facilities, suggesting neither country had run up arrears.

In a statement to Reuters on Friday, Ghana's Finance Ministry said it has made no debt service payments to Afreximbank for the past two years. The country, which defaulted on its debts in 2022, said that its debt to Afreximbank was in scope for restructuring.

While Ghana's restructuring of $13 billion worth of international bonds and debts to official creditors concluded last year, it must also restructure its commercial debt before it can fully emerge from default.

Afreximbank says it is a multilateral institution which, like the IMF and the World Bank, is exempt from taking losses when countries default. It declined to comment on Ghana's Friday statement.

The gold, cocoa and oil-producing nation owes Afreximbank at least $750 million, which, if counted as commercial debt, would make up almost a quarter of the country's near $4 billion of such loans, according to think tank ODI Global.

Sources told Reuters last month that the Paris Club group of official lenders has made it clear that Ghana, and also Zambia which similarly agreed a deal with its primary creditors last year, must restructure their debts to Afreximbank and the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB).

In a letter seen by Reuters from Ghana's finance ministry to Afreximbank, dated May 21, the government requested the bank to begin debt treatment discussions.

In its statement on Friday, Ghana's Finance Ministry reiterated that it views Afreximbank debt as part of the debt pile that it must restructure.

"Any statement suggesting that Ghana continues to make debt service payments to external creditors has the potential to derail our debt restructuring efforts," the ministry said.

Ghana said in an earlier statement on Thursday that it remained in arrears with all external creditors eligible for restructuring and that no creditor had been treated preferentially.

Afreximbank pointed to a May 21 statement saying it was not participating in debt restructurings with member countries.

Ghana defaulted in 2022, spurring the worst economic crisis in a generation against the backdrop of the COVID pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and higher global interest rates.

It is unclear when Ghana and Malawi were due to make payments to Afreximbank. The timing is particularly pertinent for Ghana after it included a clause in international bonds issued late last year as part of its debt rework stipulating it cannot treat commercial creditors better than its bondholders.

"Zambia, Ghana and Malawi are caught in the middle between different creditors," said Chris Humphrey, a senior research associate with ODI, adding that "they're being forced to make a difficult decision".

Malawi and Zambia did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Zambia has also told other media that it would restructure Afreximbank debt.

LENDER OF LAST RESORT

Afreximbank, with a $42 billion balance sheet and shareholders including governments and private investors, is an important lender to the continent, particularly as concessional finance and aid funding shrink.

Lutz Röhmeyer, head of portfolio management at Capitulum Asset Management, which holds Ghanaian bonds, said the bank is important for countries when they cannot access bond markets.

"If you do not get any funding, you have to cut government spending."

If Afreximbank's loans are deemed eligible for restructuring, its credit rating could be affected, in turn pushing up its own borrowing costs, its investors said.

Fitch rates the lender 'BBB' and Moody's 'Baa1'.

Afreximbank said in its first-quarter report that for its $27.8 billion loan book, its non-performing loans ratio was 2.44%, without identifying individual clients.

Fitch warned last year that an NPL ratio above 6% was among factors that could lead to a negative rating action or downgrade.

While some of its lending is at rates above those that are widely considered concessional terms, some point to Afreximbank's willingness to step in as a lender of last resort at times of strife for countries such as Ghana.

Accra paid as much as 9.55% to the lender for parts of its loan arranged in 2022, shortly before it tumbled into default.

(Reporting by Libby George and Karin Strohecker; Additional reporting by Duncan Miriri in Nairobi, Loucamne Coulibaly in Abidjan, Emmanuel Bruce in Accra, Chris Mfula in Lusaka and Frank Phiri in Blantyre. Editing by Elisa Martinuzzi, Kirsten Donovan and Gareth Jones)

By Karin Strohecker and Libby George