By Clem Khena-Ogbena
The Federal Government of Nigeria has been honoured with the 2013 Emerging Market Europe and Africa (EMEA) best sovereign bond award, by City Bank Group, for innovative financing.
While presenting the award at the weekend, in Abuja, to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Chief Executive Officer of Europe, Middle East and Africa, City Bank Group, Mr. Jim Cowles, affirmed that Nigeria merited the award, due to the fact that the country recorded tremendous success in the global market, despite the odds and volatility prevailing at the market in May 2013 He disclosed that the $1 billion bond issued last year in July, 2013, was being deployed to financing various power infrastructure projects in order to improve power supply to industries, business and home, adding that the allocation profile for the proceeds of the bond indicated that 90 percent would be allocated to power infrastructure, while the balance went to aviation.
Meanwhihe, in her response, the finance minister attributed the remarkable achievement to the handwork and due diligence of Debt Management Office (DMO), whom she said had painstakingly packaged the bond.
She stated: “This comes at a very unique time. Just yesterday we were trying to calm market stability in view of changes that happened at CBN. This is coming at a unique moment. We often do not celebrate our success. We didn’t plan this. They just called last week and said they wanted to come today with a very nice surprise. We found that the surprise is that we are given sovereign bond award, the best sovereign bond issuing in 2013 for Africa”.
Commenting also on the award, the Director General of DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, said the award had reinforced the interest of international community in Nigeria economy.
According to him, “This has reinforced to the international investing community –local and foreign that Nigeria continues to move in the right direction and in the process, we win a prize. Nigeria wins a prize for doing it most effectively and efficiently. The awards goes to show that everything we have done at DMO has been powered generally by the Nigerian people, led by president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and his team, whose transformation agenda is inspiring us to contribute as much as we can”.
By Clem Khena-Ogbena
The Federal Government of Nigeria has been honoured with the 2013 Emerging Market Europe and Africa (EMEA) best sovereign bond award, by City Bank Group, for innovative financing. While presenting the award at the weekend, in Abuja, to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Chief Executive Officer of Europe, Middle East and Africa, City Bank Group, Mr. Jim Cowles, affirmed that Nigeria merited the award, due to the fact that the country recorded tremendous success in the global market, despite the odds and volatility prevailing at the market in May 2013 He disclosed that the $1 billion bond issued last year in July, 2013, was being deployed to financing various power infrastructure projects in order to improve power supply to industries, business and home, adding that the allocation profile for the proceeds of the bond indicated that 90 percent would be allocated to power infrastructure, while the balance went to aviation. Meanwhihe, in her response, the finance minister attributed the remarkable achievement to the handwork and due diligence of Debt Management Office (DMO), whom she said had painstakingly packaged the bond. She stated: “This comes at a very unique time. Just yesterday we were trying to calm market stability in view of changes that happened at CBN. This is coming at a unique moment. We often do not celebrate our success. We didn’t plan this. They just called last week and said they wanted to come today with a very nice surprise. We found that the surprise is that we are given sovereign bond award, the best sovereign bond issuing in 2013 for Africa”. Commenting also on the award, the Director General of DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, said the award had reinforced the interest of international community in Nigeria economy. According to him, “This has reinforced to the international investing community –local and foreign that Nigeria continues to move in the right direction and in the process, we win a prize. Nigeria wins a prize for doing it most effectively and efficiently. The awards goes to show that everything we have done at DMO has been powered generally by the Nigerian people, led by president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and his team, whose transformation agenda is inspiring us to contribute as much as we can”.
