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Nigeria sells $2.35bn bond in Africa debt sale surge - BLOOMBERG
The Nigerian offering is the first since the country accessed the market in December.
Nigeria sold $2.35 billion in benchmark dollar debt Wednesday, joining other African issuers taking advantage of lower borrowing costs.
The offering of 10- and 20-year bonds comes after Bloomberg News earlier reported that Nigeria would look to raise $2.25 billion from the sale. Last month, the government approved plans to raise as much as $2.3 billion, along with a proposal to refinance $1.1 billion of dollar debt that matures later this month.
The West African nation sold $1.25 billion in notes maturing in 2036 and another $1.1 billion in bonds due in 2046, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. The deal was priced at yields of 8.625% and 9.125% respectively, down from initial price discussions. That compares with the interest rate of 10.375% that Nigeria paid on the $1.5 billion of 10-year Eurobonds it issued in December.
Separately, the Republic of Congo has tapped the international market for the first time in nearly two decades with a $670 million, seven-year bond that priced on Tuesday at a 13.7% yield.
The countries join Kenya and Angola in raising foreign-currency debt from Africa this year, as resilient global growth and expectations of more interest-rate cuts from the US dialed up investor appetite for riskier assets globally, including high-yield sovereign bonds.
The average spread for African sovereign debt over US Treasuries has dropped by nearly half since April to about 380 basis points, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co indexes.
The Nigerian offering is the first since the country accessed the market in December. Wednesday’s sale was briefly delayed after US President Donald Trump threatened US military action against Islamist militants in the country for what he claimed was the Nigerian government’s failure to prevent systematic killings of Christians. Trump also threatened to cut off US aid.
Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said during a visit to Germany on Wednesday that his government was “engaging” with the Trump administration to explain its constitutional protection of religious freedoms and its efforts to combat Islamist attacks.
