Kazakhstan improves its e-government system by raising funds on open market

National Information Technologies (NIT) has successfully raised $5.6 million through a bond issuance on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, with the offering underwritten by ForteFinance, part of the Forte ecosystem controlled by Kazakhstani mogul Bulat Utemuratov.

NIT, the key operator of Kazakhstan’s eGov system, plans to allocate these funds for the further development of IT infrastructure supporting public agencies.

In total, the company issued three million bonds at 1,000 tenge per unit, with an annual coupon rate of 19% and a maturity period of three years. The company has not provided any indication of expected yields. The securities have been available for trading since Dec. 27.

Over half of the securities (53.3%) were acquired by broker-dealer organizations, 16% by banks, and a third by other institutional investors. Retail investors accounted for just 0.7% of the acquired bonds. The first coupon payment is scheduled for June 2025.

According to publicly available information, this was the first bond issuance in the company’s history, a fact confirmed by NIT’s press service.

In early January, NIT opened a $124.8 million credit line with the Development Bank of Kazakhstan to fund the construction of new data processing centers in Astana and Ekibastuz for the State Revenue Committee.

NIT was established in 2000 and is owned by the Committee of State Property and Privatization under the Ministry of Finance. In 2016, the company was appointed as the operator of eGov, Kazakhstan’s public services and online information system. Its other notable projects include e-Licensing, eGov Mobile and Smart Bridge.

Over the first nine months of 2024, NIT reported $11.8 million in revenue, a 4.1% increase compared to 2023. Its assets have nearly doubled since the beginning of last year, reaching $301.2 million, while liabilities have tripled to $16.9 million.