FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange has admitted on its platform, the first ever microfinance bank bond in Nigeria – the LAPO MFB SPV Plc Series 1 N3.15bn 17.75 per cent five-year Fixed Rate Senior Unsecured Bond under a N20bn bond issuance programme. This is coming as corporate institutions have continued to successfully tap the Nigerian debt capital markets to access stable long-term finance to fund key activities that have ultimately translate to the development of the economy at large. The admittance is coming shortly on the heels of the recent listing of the Viathan Funding Plc Power Bond. At the listing ceremony held at the FMDQ offices in Lagos, the Exchange played host to the issuer, represented by Dr. Godwin Ehigiamusoe, Managing Director, LAPO Microfinance Bank Limited, alongside other senior executives from LAPO Microfinance; the co-sponsors to the issue on FMDQ, United Capital Plc, represented by Mr. Jude Chiemeka, Managing Director, United Capital Securities Limited and Mr. Tolu Osinibi, Executive Director, FCMB Capital Securities Limited and other parties to the issue. Welcoming the guests to the ceremony, Ms. Jumoke Olaniyan, Associate Vice President, Market Architecture Division, FMDQ, applauded the issuer for having successfully raised N3.15bn from the domestic capital markets, and for indubitably setting the pace for other microfinance banks planning to raise capital in the Nigerian DCM. She further commended the issuer for joining the league of corporate entities whose debt profiles have been raised via the value-packed listings and quotations service offered by FMDQ. She reiterated the OTC Exchange’s commitment to continually align its strategies and innovation to serve and provide the much-needed support to the players in the DCM. Source: The Punch