Gombe state issues N20bn bond

Nigeria’s northeastern Gombe state issued a N20 billion ($127 mln) 7-year bond on Tuesday, yielding 15.5 percent, to help fund infrastructure projects and pay-off existing short-term loans, an adviser to the issue said. The bond, which was issued at par and matures in 2019, is the first tranche of a N30 billion debt issuance program.
The state plans to use nine percent of the net proceeds to refinance existing loans, with the rest going to construct roads and schools, lead manager Access Bank said in a statement. The one-day bond sale closes has closed. Gombe is home to 2.4 million people and is one of at least several states in northern Nigeria where Islamist group Boko Haram has been waging a low level insurgency against the government since 2009. The sect has been blamed for hundreds of killings in gun and bomb attacks. The issue came ahead of one by Osun, which in August said it was waiting for regulatory approval to issue a seven-year N30 billion bond at 14.5 percent.