The Debt Management Office (DMO) has disclosed that its Sukuk bond offerings are designed to improve the road infrastructure, develop the financial market and also promote financial inclusion.
The Director-General of the DMO, Patience Oniha, who spoke in Abuja recently, said the bond provides the opportunity to raise that quantum of funds just for roads and bridges.
She spoke against the backdrop of the recently announced N100 billion Ijarah Sukuk bonds offer by the DMO.
Recall that the bonds were offered at 15.64 percent per annum and will be due in 2032, and Sukuk is an Islamic liquidity management instrument used by many governments and corporations to finance big projects.
Since the establishment of the initiative in Nigeria in September 2017, the DMO has issued three Sovereign Sukuk in 2017, 2018, and 2020.
She said: “The Sukuk has become a product that sells itself, but we will be happy to have a lot more people invest in it. We have several other products that both local and foreign investors can invest in, but the Sukuk has an added advantage in that it is financing infrastructure, driving retail investors, and promoting financial inclusion. We are developing the financial market and also giving Nigerians more investment opportunities”.
She added that Sukuk is a product that Nigerians are demanding.
“Even the contractors are interested because they want to work, and once they are assured of payment they go to the site and begin to work,” she said.
