Fitch Ratings has affirmed Kwara State National Long-term rating of AA-(minus) and Long term foreign and local currency ratings of B+.
A statement issued to Reuters also confirmed that the outlook for all the ratings is stable.

The foremost rating agency also assigned the state’s upcoming N17 billion Fixed Rate Semi-Annual Redeemable Bonds 2009/2014 (Series 1), Long-term local currency “B+” and National Long-term “AA-(nga)” ratings.

Fitch said the ratings reflect Kwara State good budgetary performance and growing investment in infrastructure to develop the local economy.
The ratings also take into account the state’s prudent budget management, which together with gradually increasing tax autonomy is set to help the state to mitigate decline in revenue accruing to it from the Federal allocation, due to decline in crude oil prices.

Commenting on the ratings, the state Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Alhaji Abdulfattah Ahmed, said: “We have once again showed that Kwara State is on a drive to stimulate its local economy and achieve some level of economic independence based on focused utilization of resources available in the state.”

He said the state’s impending five-year, N17 billion Development Bond Issue, being put together by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Plc, and set to open within the next few weeks is aimed at part-financing economic and infrastructural investments in strategic areas; including the International Aviation College, the Advanced Diagnostic Centre, the Ilorin Truck Terminal project, the second commercial agriculture project, the Agriculture Irrigation Support Project, the Ilorin Water Distribution Project and the Kwara State University Project.

With the completion of the cargo airport in sight and the implementation of all the developmental projects, the present administration in Kwara, according to a statement made available to THISDAY, “is set to deliver on its promise to lay a solid foundation for economic empowerment, wealth creation, employment generation and poverty reduction for its citizens.”

Analysts at Fitch indicated that a new debt management office and the consolidation of the state’s own-revenue source should help improve cash flow planning capacities and reporting system, as well as management of the debt, while the trust fund set up would help build reserves to meet bullet maturities for the forthcoming Bond Issue.

Kwara was the first Nigerian state to be assigned a credit rating by an international rating agency such as Fitch. The Governor Bukola Saraki-led administration has made significant progress in building a new economy for the state, particularly through commercial agriculture.

According to the governor, “the affirmation of the ratings is an indication of the steady progress we have recorded over the last six years”.

Kwara State is located in central Nigeria between Lagos and Abuja. It has about three million residents and is the 11th-largest Nigerian state by territory. The agriculture sector employs 80 per cent of the workforce and the development of commercial agriculture, agro-allied, food processing and investment in infrastructure development, offers strong growth potential.

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