Nigeria issued a $2.35 billion eurobond to support budget financing, against the backdrop of threats by the US government to initiate military action in the country.
High demand for the offering, which attracted buy and sell orders of $13 billion, reflects confidence in the policy measures taken in the last two years by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to revive one of Africa’s largest economies, the country’s debt office said.
Nigeria has come under fire from US President Donald Trump for supposedly failing to quell violence against Christians. On Wednesday, Trump asked the US House of Representatives appropriations committee to “look into this matter,” alluding to his earlier threats to cut financial assistance to the continent’s most populous nation. The US Africa Command, meanwhile, has drawn up targets for a potential strike in Nigeria, according to The New York Times.
On Tuesday, Tinubu requested parliament’s approval for new borrowing to cover a $9.7 billion deficit in Nigeria’s budget for this fiscal year. Nigeria is the latest to issue an African sovereign debt note, despite concerns about debt distress on the continent. Angola and Kenya have each raised more than $1.5 billion this year through eurobond offerings.