Despite the economic headwinds, Dangote Group of Companies, through its subsidiary, Dangote Cement Plc, has raised a total of N250 billion in debt securities within six months in 2020.
This amount was raised from its recent debut N100 billion Dangote Cement Series 1 Bond, under its N300 billion Bond programme, which was 150 per cent over-subscribed, to its earlier issued N150 billion commercial paper (CP) notes (series 13-16 under its N150 billion Domestic CP Issuance Programme), all listed and quoted (exclusively), respectively, on FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited platform.
In the same vein, and in support of the market development efforts and initiatives of FMDQ Group, the assets of the Dangote Cement Bond are also lodged with FMDQ’s wholly owned central securities depository, FMDQ Depository Limited.
Commenting on the recent bond issuance, the Chief Executive Officer of Dangote Cement Plc, Michel Puchercos, said, the landmark transaction is the largest ever bond issuance by a corporate issuer in Nigeria.
“It allows us to further broaden our sources of funding by accessing long-term debt at competitive costs from the capital market and builds further on the success of our domestic commercial paper programme. The success of these transactions, in the current challenging environment, illustrates investors’ continuous confidence in Dangote Cement’s strategy, strong cash generation and solid credit profile”, Puchercos said.
Also commenting on the sophisticated inventory of issuances by Dangote Cement Plc and its support for and collaboration with FMDQ, the Chief Executive Officer of FMDQ Group, Bola Onadele, expressed his delight in the admission of these issues, noting that, the entry of Africa’s premier and largest business conglomerate; Dangote Group, through its subsidiary, Dangote Cement Plc, into the Nigerian DCM since 2018, and its sustained activities so far, having raised over N250 billion worth of debt securities in the first half of 2020 alone, attests to the viability of the domestic capital markets to efficiently support the efforts of corporates and governments towards building the Nigeria we all desire.
According to him, with the active support of its stakeholders, FMDQ has since its inception in 2013, remained committed to making the Nigerian financial market globally competitive, operationally excellent, liquid, and diverse, in line with its “GOLD” Agenda for the transformation of the markets.