[2007-09-04]  NDB List P100m Bond
The National Development Bank (NDB) last Friday listed a P100 million bond on the Botswana Stock Exchange, becoming the 26th bond on the bourse. The NDB bond has a maturity date of August 2017 and will pay a fixed semi-annual coupon of 11.25 percent.

The bond issue, which was originated by Stanbic debt and capital markets department, will give NDB the platform to tap into cheaper sources of funding to enable it to assist in the economic development of Botswana, by extending cheaper loan facilities and services to fund seekers. At the listing ceremony, NDB chief executive officer Oaitse Ramasedi said he was excited about the issue, whose proceeds will be used to refinance short-term debt and fund the bank's strategy for the next five years.

The strategy will look at concentrating on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the spirit of poverty alleviation as the NDB complements government efforts to reduce the unemployment rate and improve economic welfare of Batswana.

"We are not driving away those (who want) to borrow huge sums of money, but we are just refocusing our efforts mainly on small and medium firms, which can be the driving force of economic growth," Ramasedi said. "Further, we are delighted that NDB is not only assisting in developing capital markets price discovery, but (it is) also providing alternative sources of investment opportunities.

" The bond's subscription is in denominations of P1 million and P1, 000. It has a senior unsecured status and will give the bank fixed rate funding for its financial requirements for the next 10 years. Ramasedi said he was humbled by the interest the investing public had shown in the NDB as the issue was over-subscribed by 2.5 times.

Stanbic Bank Botswana Deputy Managing Director Leina Gabaraane said the NDB's was the 8th paper they had done and were expecting more good quality paper in the market in the near future. "We have raised over P2.5 billion from the market and the NDB issue should complement government efforts for public companies to raise funds from the market," Gabaraane said.


Source: Copyright © 2007 Mmegi/The Reporter.