The Federal Government has announced plans to issue bonds on the Vienna stock market as part of efforts to attract foreign capital into priority areas of the Nigerian economy.
Senator Abubakar Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, disclosed the initiative on Tuesday while addressing the GPF Global Vienna Meeting in Vienna, Austria, through a video message. He said the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, the Ministry of Finance, and Austrian officials working with the Austrian Stock Exchange had established ESME Limited as a special purpose vehicle to channel investments into Nigeria.
The company, he explained, will issue bonds on the Viennese stock market to finance investments by Austrian and other companies in green technology, waste-to-energy, textiles, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and water. ESME Limited's board includes two representatives from the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and Austrian businessmen.
Bagudu said the Tinubu administration welcomed the progress the company had made toward the forthcoming bond issuance and expressed confidence that it would deepen business relations between Nigeria and Austria.
He linked the move to Nigeria's ambition to become a $1 trillion economy by 2030, arguing that the target had increased the need to attract foreign capital. He identified the Austrian stock market as a potential source of funding and urged Austrian investors to explore opportunities in Nigeria, describing the country as a proven market with strong absorptive capacity and more than 200 million people.
The minister stated that the Federal Government's economic reforms had improved the investment climate by pursuing macroeconomic predictability and removing distortions, including in the foreign exchange market. According to him, the reforms had created a rule-based playing field for the capital market and strengthened investor confidence.
"The forex market has stabilised, with free entry and exit. Foreign reserves have risen significantly to over $50 billion, providing over 11 months of import cover," Bagudu said.
He also pointed to increased revenues across the three tiers of government as a benefit of the reforms, saying the gains had given governments greater scope to deliver services. He argued that Nigeria's bond spread reflected improved confidence in the economy and claimed that existing investors were earning more than 20 percent returns in US dollar terms.
