Lagos State sells N47bn bonds

Lagos State has sold N47 billion (154.50 million dollars) of bonds maturing in 2023 to help finance basic infrastructure, Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode has said in a statement, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

He said 16.5 percent coupon was the first tranche of a 500 billion naira debt issuance programme approved by the state’s parliament in September.

The state had offered 60 billion naira of the bonds. Ambode said “despite the continued challenges in the economy and difficult market conditions.

The state sold some 80 percent of the bonds it offered at 57 basis points spread to the sovereign.

“Lagos state government remains committed to improving the physical and social infrastructure base of the state …,” he said.

Lagos state in April agreed to pay off holders of an outstanding 167.5 billion naira bond before maturity to cut its interest payments after a plunge in oil prices slashed government revenues.

The state is home to the commercial hub of Africa’s most populous nation, a sprawling city of more than 21 million people which seriously needs infrastructure upgrades.

Lagos is the first state to issue a bond since the country’s recession in the second quarter of 2016.