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Bonds & Fixed Income | |
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Friday, December 22, 2017 8:00AM / FMDQ
The Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), through
the Debt Management Office (DMO), pioneered another first in the Nigerian debt
capital markets (DCM), as it marked the official listing of the inaugural
Diaspora Bond on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange (FMDQ or the OTC Exchange)
yesterday, Thursday, December 21, 2017. The day also celebrated the official
listing of the latest Eurobond issues by the FRN – US$1,500,000,000.00
6.500% Notes due 2027 and US$1,500,000,000.00 7.625% Notes due 2047 under its
US$4,500,000,000.00 Global Medium-Term Note Programme Eurobonds – on
the OTC Exchange. The FRN Diaspora Bond – US$300,000,000.00 5.625%
Diaspora Bond due 2022 – issued in June 2017, along with the two (2)
tranches of the FRN Eurobonds, were listed on FMDQ to promote, among others,
visibility for the issues and financial inclusion. These listings of foreign
currency-denominated debt securities by the FRN, show the government’s
unrelenting commitment to supporting the growth and development of the nation’s
DCM towards economic development sustainability. In the first quarter of 2017,
the FRN made history in the nation, when the FRN Eurobond was listed for the
first time ever domestically. Following a series of strategic engagements
between the DMO and FMDQ, and other stakeholders on the importance of listing
the sovereign’s Eurobonds domestically, the DMO achieved this most significant
accomplishment when it listed the $1.00bn Eurobond on FMDQ in March 2017. Less
than a year later, the DMO, on behalf of the FRN, is again making history
through the issuance and subsequent listing of the FRN Diaspora Bond.
To commemorate these remarkable achievements, the
OTC Exchange hosted the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by the
Director-General of the DMO, Ms. Patience Oniha, along with key representatives
from the DMO to a most impressive and memorable Ceremony. Also present at the
Ceremony were key representatives from Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited, the
sponsor of the issue and Registration Member (Listings) of FMDQ and
representatives from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Standard Bank of South
Africa PLC, FBN Merchant Bank Limited, United Capital PLC, Udo Udoma &
Belo-Osagie, Banwo & Ighodalo, amongst others.
Welcoming the guests to the Ceremony, Ms. Tumi
Sekoni, Vice President, Business Development of FMDQ, congratulated the issuer
and sponsor of the issue on this critical milestone, commending the DMO for
another successful outing by the FRN in the international markets. She
highlighted that the FRN, via its Diaspora Bond, provided the opportunity for
Nigerians in the international markets (and those in the domestic market with
foreign capital) to contribute to the development of the Nigerian DCM and by
extension, the economy. She commented that listing the bonds on FMDQ would
rightly position the nation to continue to maximise its potential via the
Nigerian DCM. She reiterated FMDQ’s commitment to remain unyielding in its
support for the development of the Nigerian DCM through its highly efficient
Listings/Quotations service.
Ms. Patience Oniha, Director-General of the DMO,
during the issuer’s special address, stated that, “the listings will increase
number and range of securities available in the domestic capital markets,
thereby deepening the market and promoting financial inclusion. She also stated
that, “this history will give more visibility to the domestic debt capital
markets, which will be beneficial for attracting capital from local and foreign
investors. Furthermore, in the specific case of the Eurobond, because it is a
sovereign security, the information it will provide such as coupon, yield and
tenor will serve as benchmarks for corporates who intend to issue Eurobonds in
the international capital markets.”
Mr. Yinka Sanni, Chief Executive Officer,
Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, during his address, said that “by proceeding to list
these instruments on the domestic exchanges, the DMO once again has paved the
way for corporate and bank issuers to follow suit, thereby adding to the depth
and breadth of the domestic capital markets. We thereby applaud the DMO for
this initiative.”
The Listing Ceremony, in line with FMDQ’s
tradition, was marked with memorable highlights which included, amongst other
activties, the unveiling of the special symbol and scroll; the signing of the
FMDQ Bond Listing Register and presentation of the FMDQ Bond Listing
Certificate; and the special autograph impressions by the issuer.
Mr. Bola Onadele. Koko, Managing Director/CEO of
FMDQ, whilst giving the closing remarks, applauded the issuer for another
remarkable job well done. He commented, “this is another highly commendable
step by the DMO towards deepening the domestic debt capital markets. The DMO
continues to set the pace for key development in the Nigerian DCM. The listing
of foreign currency-denominated debt securities by the FRN paves the way for
the issuance and domestic listing of Nigerian corporate Eurobonds. It also
lights up the vision for the issuance of foreign currency-denominated debt
locally”.
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