Nigeria's 2017 Diaspora Bond — A $300 Million, 130%-Oversubscribed Retail Instrument

In June 2017, Nigeria's Debt Management Office (DMO) issued a five-year, $300 million diaspora bond registered with the US SEC and the UK Listing Authority and listed on the London Stock Exchange, structured as a retail instrument distributed through private banks and wealth managers specifically to reach individual Nigerians abroad rather than only institutional investors.

The bond priced at a 5.625% coupon and was oversubscribed by 130%, according to the DMO and reported by Vanguard News and Quartz Africa; proceeds partly financed the 2017 federal budget deficit. The bond was fully repaid at maturity in 2022, per the DMO's official redemption notice — a documented, complete lifecycle that is rare among African diaspora-bond attempts.

Caveat: Nigeria has not issued a follow-up diaspora bond in the years immediately after 2022, and comparative reviews by ODI and the Brookings Institution note that most subsequent African diaspora-bond attempts (e.g., Kenya's, Ethiopia's) have underperformed relative to Nigeria's 2017 issuance, underscoring that a single successful issuance did not translate into an established, recurring financing tool.

Read the full analysis: https://www.dmo.gov.ng/news-and-events/circulars-releases/3959-press-release-fgn-redeems-usd300-million-diaspora-bond/file