Officials of Nigeria’s Federal Government met with fund managers in New York last week on a non-deal roadshow held to update bondholders on the country’s growth plan after getting out of recession, according to an investor presentation seen by Reuters on Saturday.
Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, who took over as Finance Minister after Mrs. Kemi Adeosun resigned last month, was joined by Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), as well as the Budget and Trade Ministers, for the meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 27.
This is as the Muhammadu Buhari administration tries to diversify the nation’s revenue away from an over-reliance on global oil prices to greater tax collection.
The government sees growth of 4.6% by 2020 from the 1.5% achieved in the first half, by boosting local production, investing in infrastructure and creating jobs. Nigeria’s economy grew just 0.8% in 2017.
“We simply used the opportunity of the presence of senior members of the economic management team at United Nations General Assembly to meet with investors and analysts,” Patience Oniha, Director General of the DMO, told Reuters.
Asked whether the meeting came ahead of a possible bond sale, Oniha said: “Not at all.”
Emefiele told investors Nigeria would continue to welcome foreign investment and that the bank was engaging with MTN after it said the South African telecoms firm had moved $8.1bn out of Nigeria illegally, with a view to finding a solution.
The West African country wants to raise $2.8bn of debt offshore as part of its 2018 budget of N9.12tr, but the government needs approval from parliament before going ahead with bond sales.
Parliament resumes on Tuesday after political parties on October 7 pick their candidates for next February’s presidential election, when President Buhari plans to run for a second term.
Nigeria has said it would borrow more abroad even as interest rates rise in the United States, which could see it pay more than on its most recent debt sale, held in February.
It wants foreign debt as a percentage of its total borrowing to hit 40% by next year from 30.2% in the first half of this year, the presentation showed.
Photo Caption: Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed (3rd right) was a panelist at a Nigerian business event organized by @ZenithBank, alongside Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Power, Works and Housing (2nd right); Udo Udoma and Okey Enilama, his Budget and Planning (left); Trade, Industries and Investment counterparts (3rd left), as well as Godwin Emefiele, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (2nd left); at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 29, 2018. Source: Mrs. Zainab Ahmed.
