FG APPOINTS GOLDMAN, STANBIC TO SELL DEBUT ‘DIASPORA BOND’

The federal government has asked Goldman Sachs and Stanbic IBTC Bank to advise


it on the planned sale of a debut “diaspora bond” targeted at Nigerians living abroad.


Africa’s biggest economy first announced plans to sell bonds targeting Nigerian


nationals abroad in 2013 to raise between $100 million to $300 million. According to


Reuters, Goldman Sachs and Stanbic were due to manage the sale at the time, but the


government did not appoint any bookrunners ahead of the election in 2015 that


brought President Muhammadu Buhari to power. United Bank for Africa on Monday


said the lender had been appointed as one of the bookrunners on the diaspora bond


deal. First Bank and Standard Bank were also appointed, a local newspaper reported,


quoting the debt office. Nigeria is the world’s fifth-biggest destination for


international remittances after China, India, the Philippines and Mexico, with five


million Nigerians living abroad sending money back to relatives, according to


Western Union. Remittances make up the second-largest source of foreign exchange


receipts in Nigeria, after oil revenues. Citizens living abroad send at least $10 billion


home annually. The diaspora bond will have a maturity of five to seven years and will


be issued before the second half of the year, the newspaper reported. A finance


ministry source told Reuters this month that the country will look to issue a diaspora


bond after completing a $1 billion Eurobond sale this year. Last month the


government appointed Citigroup, Standard Chartered Bank and Stanbic IBTC to


manage the $1 billion Eurobond sale, which it hopes to carry out in March. The


government plans to borrow up to $10 billion, with about half of that coming from


foreign sources. So far only the African Development Bank has confirmed a budget


support package of $1 billion. The government has held talks for months with the


World Bank, China and other institutions to fund the budget gaps. The government


also plans to issue a debut sovereign Sukuk in the local market and is looking to


appoint advisers.