After weeks of review and examination, Nigeria has announced that it has shortlisted banks that will manage the Eurobond sale for the country.
According to Reuters News Agency, only a shortlist of successful banks has been made for the Eurobond sale, no final decision yet-official.
Nigeria is planning to raise USD1 billion via Eurobond sale to shore a huge gap in the country’s budget dug by the unprecedented crash in global oil prices. Nigeria gets over 70% of its sovereign revenue from
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, wants to sell $1 billion in Eurobond by the end of the year, although no bank has been appointed yet to arrange the issue.
The official, who did not wish to be identified, said the list has been sent to Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), after which the finance minister will offer the names to the cabinet for approval. He did not disclose how long the process might take.
“The names have been picked but it has to go through government process,” he told Reuters. “The issue will happen this year.”
Nigeria has $500 million of commitments for the planned Eurobond and any decision to increase the size of the offer will depend on pricing, Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun has said.
The official said Adeosun met with Moody’s Investors Service on Friday to discuss Nigeria’s ratings before the bond sale. Moody’s downgraded Nigeria’s sovereign rating to B1 from Ba3 in April, citing risks to government efforts to diversify revenues away from oil, its mainstay.
Citibank and Deutsche Bank managed previous issues by Nigeria in 2010 and 2013.
