Nigeria to issue inaugural green bond next week

The Nigerian government plans to sell NGN 10.69 billion (USD 29.6m/EUR 25.1m) worth of green bonds next week, becoming the first African country launching a sovereign green bond issuance.

The placement, announced by Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO) on Thursday, will be the first tranche of a NGN-150-billion green bond programme. It will be issued during the week starting December 18 with the proceeds going for renewable energy and afforestation projects. Nigeria has a goal of having 2 GW of renewables capacity by 2020 and cutting its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 20%.

Moody's Investors Service has assigned a green bond assessment of GB1 (Excellent) to the senior unsecured green notes, which are expected to be listed on the Nigerian stock exchange. The coupons and maturities of the securities will be set at the time of closing the deal, the credit rating agency said in a press release.

An investor roadshow is being conducted in the capital Abuja and the commercial capital Lagos on December 14 and December 15.

(NGN 100 = USD 0.277/EUR 0.235)

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