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Ecobank Nigeria (ENG), a subsidiary of leading Pan-African banking group, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), said on Thursday that it has successfully priced its $300 million bond issuance. According to ETI's statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the debt security is a fixed-rate, US dollar-denominated senior unsecured bond with a five-year tenor, maturing in February 2026.

The bond, whose settlement date is February16, 2021, has a coupon rate of 7.125 per cent and will be listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Ecobank said the bond was oversubscribed more than three times, with significant interest from international investors. The bank said the robust demand is a demonstration of global investors’ strong appetite for the Ecobank franchise in Nigeria.

"Despite the challenging global environment owing to the COVID-19  pandemic, and on the back of a successful NGN 50bn Tier 2 issuance in December 2020, ENG was able to successfully issue and price Nigeria’s first 2021 senior unsecured 5 year bond transaction,” said Patrick Akinwuntan, Managing Director of ENG. “Ecobank Nigeria, through this issuance, is being  proactive in optimizing its capital structure as it continues to drive its medium-term growth strategy of establishing itself as a leading facilitator of pan-Africa and international trade and payments.”

The bond has an issuer rating of B- from Fitch Ratings and S&P Global. According to the bank, the bond issuance followed a series of virtual global investor calls with a number of blue-chip local, regional and international financial institutions, led by Citi, Mashreq, Renaissance Capital and Standard Chartered Bank acting as Joint Lead Managers and Bookrunners. The ENG transaction is the first non-sovereign bond issuance in Africa this year.

Akinwuntan thanked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for its continuous guidance and granting necessary regulatory approvals. Furthermore, he said, “We believe that our capital raising activities are key steps forward towards strengthening ENG beyond the regulatory ratios in addition to diversifying ENG’s medium-term financing sources. ENG is poised for continued growth in the Nigerian financial services industry.”