Nigeria’s FG sells N100bn sovereign sukuk at 16.7%

The Federal Government of Nigeria has begun the sale of its N100 billion debut sovereign Sukuk, the Debt Management Office (DMO), said Thursday.

The offer circular, which was obtained from its website, said the seven-year Islamic Sukuk, referred to as Ijarah is at a rental rate of 16.74 percent and would be due in 2024.

The bond, which is aimed at funding road infrastructure across the six geo-political zones, is payable semi-annually.

Subscription for the bond, which is guaranteed by the government, will close on Sept. 20, as the debut Sukuk was originally planned to go on sale in June for three days via book building.

The circular said the planned Sukuk issue would target retail investors, institutional investors and high net worth individuals.

It said subscribers could purchase N1,000 per unit subject to a minimum subscription of N10,000 and in multiples of N1,000 thereafter with First Bank and Islamic wealth manager, Lotus Capital managing the sale.

The DMO said the bond would be tradable on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and on FMDQ Over-The-Counter (OTC) platform and be classified as a liquid asset by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

It may also re-open the offer in case of an under-subscription.

The DMO said the benefits to be derived from investment in Sukuk included using the product as collateral to access loans from banks.

Other benefits are safety and regular income which are tax-free and will be listed and traded on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange Plc.