Private firm floats Nigeria’s first power infrastructure bond

Viathan Group, a private company, has issued a $32 million infrastructure bond to fund power assets— the first of its kind in Nigeria.

The bond, which is worth N9.8bn when converted at the CBN official rate N305.65 to a dollar, is offered at an interest rate of 16 percent.

Viathan is owned by Synergy Private Equity, a company which develops and operates off-grid power solutions in Nigeria.

The bond is backed by InfraCredit, an AAA rated credit facility set up by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and GuarantCo.

Reuters reports that the bond, which has a 10-year tenor, will mature in 2027.

At present, Viathan provides power solution for government, businesses and households in Nigeria using natural gas as fuel.

“Viathan plans to use the proceeds to refinance existing short-term bank loans, expand its generation capacity by 7.5 megawatts (MW), and build a compressed natural gas plant,” the report read.

“Nigeria needs an estimated 160,000 MW of electricity to meet local demand. However, it only has capacity of 12,132 MW, of which just around 7,000 is operational.”

In 2016, the federal government through the Debt Management Office released bonds targeted at different projects.

One of such bonds is the N100 billion Sukuk, which is expected to be used for constructing and reconstructing 25 economic roads across the six geo-political zones in the country.