AS part of measures to boost Small and Meduim Enterprises (SMEs) financing and enhance domestic debt market, Fidelity Bank Plc has listed N30bn bond on FMDQ OTC.
This follows the listing the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company Plc (NMRC) ₦8b series 1, 15-Year fixed rate bond under a ₦140,000,000,000.00 Medium-Term Note Programme on FMDQ platform.
The Managing Director of the bank, Nnamdi Okonkwo, explained that the N30 billion 7-year unsecured bond due 2022 at 16.48 per cent would also serve as tier 11 capital for the bank.
He explained that the bond issuance and listing exercise would enable the bank fulfil its promise to increase SME lending to 50 per cent by 2017.
Okonkwo added that the bond would enable the bank to fund increased lending to small businesses and retail clients, adding that the bank had earmarked 80 per cent of the bond proceeds for SMEs financing.
Explaining further, he said: “Some of them has transited from just trading or doing small business to longer term business like like manufacturing and some of them now need machineries and long term finance.
“We don’t want to be financing big SMEs with short-term finance because of strategic decision we have taken to deepen and support the sector.
“We recognise the strategic importance of SMEs, particularly as it relates to diversifying the nation’s monolithic economy.”
FMDQ Managing Director, Bola Onadele, said that the listing would deepen the nation’s capital market.
“FMDQ provides a platform for the registration, listing, quotation and trading of bonds and other fixed income securities,” said Onadele.
