By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has said it was making efforts to deepen the market and boost the economy by supporting the government and creating more investment opportunities for investors.
The Director-General of the agency, Ms Patience Oniha, made this disclosure on Thursday at the closing gong ceremony organised by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited to commemorate the listing of a Triple-Tranche of $4 billion Eurobonds, $1.25 billion Eurobonds and the N250 billion Sukuk on the bourse.
DMO had listed on the exchange the Triple-Tranche $4.00 billion Eurobonds consisting of 6.125% $1.25 billion notes due September 2028; 7.375% $1.5 billion notes due September 2023; and 8.25% $1.25 billion notes due September 2051 on Monday, January 31, 2022.
Other securities listed on the exchange were the N250.00 billion 10-year 13.00% Ijarah Sukuk due 2031 and the 8.375% $1.25 billion Eurobond due March 2029 on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, and Thursday, July 7, 2022, respectively.
At the event to mark the listing on the securities, Ms Oniha said the collaborations with the NGX were in furtherance of the development of the Nigerian economy as the issuance of the asset classes is being used to fund government projects.
“The Sukuk transaction which began in 2017, gradually improved with the first two transactions being N100 billion and the last one now at N250 billion.
“With all the work market operators are doing, people are now getting more familiar and comfortable with these transactions.
“At DMO, we are supporting the government and creating more investment opportunities just as we are also collectively supporting securities transactions at NGX,” she said.
The chief executive of the NGX, Mr Temi Popoola, in his remarks, assured stakeholders of the platform’s capacity to be a veritable platform for listings and trading instruments.
Speaking on the renewed focus of the NGX brand, he said, “We realise that we also need to diversify our business model by attracting new and young Nigerians to the capital market.
“Events like this are important to us because it gives us the opportunity to diversify the narrative of the Nigerian capital market and we will do everything we can to attach the necessary visibility to make sure that these instruments can trade efficiently, just as we continue the story around the market.”
On the important role the DMO plays in the Nigerian story, Mr Popoola commended the DG for making the debt market transparent to all Nigerians and for making it easy to see the journey and the developments happening in the Nigerian debt story.
