Nigeria’s finance minister, Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, on Thursday described the three-fold oversubscription of the nation’s $2.86bn Eurobond issuance by leading global institutional investors as a demonstration of confidence among global institutional investors.
In a series of tweets reacting to the bond issuance, Mrs. Ahmed said subscription level recorded a peak combined order book of over $9.5bn.
While appreciating the Nigerian Senate for approving the issuance last month to partly finance the 2018 budget, she noted that the cost was “considerably lower than many other countries across Sub-Sahara Africa.”
A breakdown of the notes, showed that “a $1.18bn 7-year series, $1bn 12-year series and a $750m 30-year series. The 7-year series will bear interest at a rate of 7.625%, while the 12-year series will bear interest at a rate of 8.75% and the 30-year series will bear interest at a rate of 9.25%.”
Continuing, the minister linked the huge oversubscription “largely to Nigeria’s successful engagement with the Fitch Rating Agency.
“The agency had changed the outlook on Nigeria’s sovereign rating from B+ (negative) to B+ (stable), based on improving macro-economic fundamentals,” she added.

Photo Caption: Mrs. Ahmed (left), Senator Shehu Sani (2nd left), Mrs. Patience Oniha Plc, Director-General, Debt Management Office (3rd right), and Segun Agbaje, Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Bank.