FG Raises N800bn Sukuk Bond For Infrastructure

The Debt Management Office, DMO, on Thursday listed N130 billion sovereign Sukuk on the Nigerian Exchange, NGX, and the FMDQ Securities Exchange.

Sukuk fund has been used by the Nigerian government to provide critical infrastructure, including roads, bridges, dams, etc across the country.

The recent issue has now raised the total bonds from Sukuk to close to N800 billion in five years.

In February this year, the federal government revealed that it has invested over N612.557 billion raised through Sovereign Sukuk issued between 2017 and 2021 for the construction and rehabilitation of key economic road projects in the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

The funds, according to the details were used to construct and rehabilitate sections of 71 road projects covering 2,808.06 km and four bridges by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and sections of six road projects covering 99km and 19 bridges by the Federal Capital Territory Administration.

According to a statement released yesterday by the DMO, the Sukuk bond was initially offered at N100 billion in November 2022 but received overwhelming interest from investors, resulting in an over-subscription of N165.25 billion.

To accommodate the needs of this diverse group of investors, N130 billion was allocated. The balance of N35.25 billion will be returned to those subscribers whose offers could not be accommodated after the N130 billion has been listed.

The statement said “the listing on the NGX and FMDQ Securities Exchange will not only expand the range of financial offerings available to investors in the capital market but also provide liquidity and promote price discovery through the opportunity to buy and sell the sovereign Sukuk”.