Ayodele Olalere
Lagos State government is set to complete the ongoing construction of the Lagos-Badagry express road, and other major roads following the signing of an N137.3billion bond agreement on Monday between the state and 24 finance houses.
The signing was done by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the Banquet Hall, Alausa House, Ikeja. According to the governor, the 10-year bond was the largest by any state in Nigeria and was under the N500billion Fourth Debt Issuance Programme.
At the end of the present 10-year issuance tenure, the total bond issued by the state since Babatunde Raji Fashola’s administration would have amounted to N377.715 billion. The latest bond comes with a 13% annual interest rate.
Governor Sanwo-Olu added the bond would help the state to deliver on its infrastructural and socio-economic developmental objectives; and to meet repayment obligations.
Some of the projects to be built and completed with the fund include the Lekki regional road, rehabilitation of Ije-ododo road and rehabilitation of the alternative route to Admiralty Circle Toll Plaza.
Others are the Lagos-Badagry express road, ongoing construction of Lekki-Epe road, health sector facilities, among others.
“These projects will contribute to a better quality of living for our people, while also creating a more enabling environment for commercial and economic activity. There is no doubt, and we have seen this from previous interventions, that the multiplier social and economic effects will more than justify the cost of the investment,” Sanwo-Olu said.
The bond agreement involves 24 Issuing Houses, eight Trustees, and eight banks.
The Nigerian Xpress had reported that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with FMDQ Group and Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Africa, which are the programme’s implementing partners on the proposed N25 billion (over $60 million) financing.
With the signing, .Lagos State becomes the first sub-national government to activate the framework for the unlocking of the $1 trillion Nigerian Green Bond Market Development Programme to finance key infrastructure projects.