DMO okays N50bn Sukuk bond for road projects

The Debt Management Office has said it will issue about N250 billion Sukuk to finance road projects.

It said this in a statement on Tuesday, explaining that the Sukuk is a strategic initiative supporting the development of infrastructure, promoting financial inclusion and deepening the domestic securities market.

The DMO had issued three Sovereign Sukuk — 2017, 2018 and 2020, after the establishment of the initiative in September 2017.

“Subsequent to the debut Sovereign Sukuk in 2017 in which N100 billion was raised to finance the rehabilitation and construction of twenty-five (25) road projects across the six (6) geopolitical zones, the DMO issued a Sukuk for N100 billion in 2018 and another for N162.557 billion in 2020,” the statement said.

It stated that the proceeds of these two (2) Sukuk issuances were deployed to 28 and 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 DMO said it had appointed transaction parties through an open bidding competitive process — 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 Abdulai, Taiwo & Co. Solicitors and Tsedaqah Attorneys will act as legal advisers.