The Debt Management Office (DMO) on Tuesday said it has appointed Transaction Parties through the Open Competitive Bidding Process for the issuance of the country’s fourth Sovereign Sukuk, which it plans to raise between N200- N250 billion to finance road projects.
In a statement posted on its website, the debt office said fresh issuance of the Islamic debt instrument was a strategic initiative that supports the development of infrastructure, promotes financial inclusion and deepens the domestic securities market. Nigeria has issued a total of N362.58 billion Sovereign Sukuk bonds between September 2017 when the country first launched the debt instrument till date to fund 74 road projects across the six geopolitical zones in the country.
The debt office first issued N100 billion sukuk in its debut Isalmic debt instrument in 2017 to finance the rehabilitation and construction of twenty-five road projects across the six geopolitical zones. The DMO followed up another issuance of a Sukuk for N100 billion in 2018 and another for N162.557 billion in 2020,the statement reads. “The proceeds of these two (2) Sukuk issuances were also deployed to twenty-eight (28) and forty-four (44) road projects, also in the six (6) geopolitical zones. “In summary, a total of N362.577 billion Sovereign Sukuk was issued between September 2017 and June 2021.” The transaction parties appointed through an open bidding competitive process include Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited, Greenwich Merchant Bank Limited and Vetiva Capital Management Limited as issuing houses while BURAQ Capital Limited will be the investment analyst. FBNQuest Trustees Limited and APEL Capital & Trust Limited are trustees for the issuance while bdulai, Taiwo & Co. Solicitors and Tsedaqah Attorneys will act as legal advisers. -Oludare Mayowa Global Financial Digest
