The Nigerian govt has announced plans to issue a $300 million diaspora bond by March 2017.
According to Ventures Africa, proceeds from the bond willbe used for budgetary support.
The bond targets Nigerians living in the diaspora who in 2016 sent home more than $35 Billion to make it Africa’s largest diaspora remittance market.
The government initially had a target of raising $100million until President Buhari requested the county’s national assembly to increase it to $300 million to enable the government achieve its External Borrowing Plan for 2016 to 2018.
In 2016, Nigeria’s economy slipped into recession forcing the government to explore external options to fund it’s widening deficit.
Most recently, the country finalized a $1billion Eurobond sale to fund it’s expenditure.
According to Reuters, the diaspora bond will be on a tenure of 5-10 years with rates at between 5-8 per cent and will be exempted from tax.
