LAGOS — Nigeria’s drive to overcome a mismatch between demand for electricity and generating capacity is prompting the nation’s lenders to sell dollar bonds to finance power projects.The government of President Goodluck Jonathan, which sold 15 state-owned power generation and distribution companies last year, is spending $3.5bn to boost transmission capacity this year in Africa’s most populous nation by 50% from 4,000MW, less than a 10th of SA’s full capacity. Funds will come from the sales and borrowing as he seeks to alleviate daily blackouts in the country of 170-million people, the continent’s biggest economy.Nigeria’s banks are tapping Eurobond markets to be in a position to provide financing for projects including power, with Sterling Bank seeking to raise dollars after Zenith Bank, the nation’s second-biggest lender, sold $500m worth of five-year notes on April 10. The yield on the security was 6.29% on Monday, compared with 5.07% in JPMorgan Chase’s Corporate EMBI diversifie...
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