The Debt Management Office (DMO) has announced its third Sukuk debt instrument concluded at the weekend, which yielded N162.6b, would be deployed to finance 44 critical infrastructure spread across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
According to the agency’s Director-General, Ms. Patience Oniha, said: “The Offer attracted a very high level of subscription from investors with total subscriptions of N669.124b, representing a subscription level of 446 per cent. The impressive demand for the Sukuk came from a wide range of investors, which included ethical funds, insurance companies, fund managers and retail investors amongst others.”
The Director-General explained that the issuance of the third Sovereign Sukuk, which followed the debut issuance of N100b in September 2017, and a second issuance of another N100b in December 2018, is based on DMO’s commitment to using borrowed funds to finance infrastructure.
The benefits from the earlier Sukuk issuances, Oniha said, which were also used to finance roads, include improved safety on the roads, faster travel times, access to markets for farm produce and opening up parts of the country for development.
She said the DMO would continue to raise funds through Sukuk to support improvement in infrastructure and development of the domestic capital market.
