Bamidele Famoofo
Fifteen out of the 36 states of the federation have issued N595.3billion (about $1.6billion) in bonds from the domestic capital market in the last seven years.
Leading the states is Lagos, which issued about N312 billion worth of bond instruments in four years. Lagos, the most vibrant of all the states in Nigeria in internal revenue generation, accounted for more than half the total issuance in the debt market in the review period.
According to a recent report on Nigerian States and their Credit Worthiness by Moody’s Investors Service, “The number of states tapping the domestic capital market tripled in this period.”
Meanwhile, as of 2017, Lagos is the most heavily indebted of all the states with the largest external debt of $1.5 billion and the largest domestic debt stock at N363 billion (about $1 billion). Delta State,…
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