Nigeria repays $500m Eurobond debt on due date

By Onome Amuge.

Nigeria reaffirmed its commitment to meeting its debt service obligations  by redeeming  a $500 million Eurobond on its scheduled due date of July 12, 2023.

The Debt Management Office  (DMO), in a statement dated July 12,2023,said the Eurobond was issued in July 2013, as part of a dual-tranche USD1 billion Eurobond,for a tenor of ten years at a coupon of 6.375 percent per annum.

The agency recalled that Nigeria had previously redeemed a $500 million Eurobond in July 2018, another $500 million Eurobond in January 2021, and a $300 million Diaspora Bond in June 2022.

It stated further that these, together with the redeemed $500 million Eurobond, brings the total amount of securities redeemed by Nigeria in the International Capital Market (ICM) to $1.8 billion.

The DMO noted that Nigeria’s successful redemption of its Eurobonds and Diaspora Bonds in the ICM over the past six  years is a demonstration of its strong debt management operations and planning.

A Eurobond, according to Corporate Finance Institute, an education platform platform for finance and investment professionals,is a fixed-income debt instrument (security) denominated in a different currency than the local one of the country where the bond’s been issued.

Redeeming a Eurobond means that Nigeria is repaying the principal amount of the bond along with any outstanding interest payments before or immediately upon the bond’s maturity date.

The next Eurobond payment for Nigeria is due in November 2025 and will require a repayment of about $1.1 billion.