Foreign investors bought less Nigeria bonds last year

Foreign investors cut their participation in Nigerian government bond auctions last year, buying just 4.39% of all bonds issued compared with the previous year when they bought 10.99%, a debt office presentation showed.

The debt office said local fund managers bought most of the bonds in 2019, accounting for more than a third of total demand. In 2017, foreigners bought 11.7% of Nigerian government bonds, the debt office said in a presentation to traders.

Foreign investors reduced their participation in Nigerian government bond auctions last year after yields fell and an oil prices drop reignited fears that the currency could come under pressure.

Yields have fallen from as high as 15% to around 11% for the benchmark 10-year bond. The debt office said a total of 3.26 trillion naira worth of local debt would mature this year while it planned to issue a total of 3.58 trillion naira in debt.