The Debt Management Office, DMO, yesterday, said that arrangement has been concluded for the issuance of the first sovereign sukuk, otherwise known as Islamic Bond or non-interest bond, next week, even as Dr. Abraham Nwankwo retires as the Director General of the Debt Management Office at the end of the month after completing 10 years of service.

The sovereign sukuk valued at N100 billion followed a successful issuance of first Diaspora Bond by the DMO in the United States of American market to give Nigerians in Diaspora the opportunity to contribute to the funding of growth and development of the Nigerian economy.

This comes as the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, commended the DMO on the efforts it has made so far to ensure that the sovereign sukuk is issued as planned.

Making the announcement when the team of the debt office visited the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, to sound the trade closing gong, Nwankwo appealed to Nigerians to take advantage of the sovereign sukuk. He assured that the debt office would continue to open up new windows of investment in order to give options to the government, the private sector and other retail investors to participate in the capital market as well as in the growth and development of the economy.

“That is in line with the government’s commitment to make sure that the economic recovery and economic growth we achieve this time around will be inclusive. So, the sukuk is coming anytime from now because we have reached a very advanced stage. All arrangements are concluded and possibly as soon as the Ramadan celebration is over, we will be in the market and Nigeria’s first sovereign sukuk would have been issued,” he said.

Speaking on the success of the Diaspora bond, which was130 percent subscribed, Nwankwo said that being the first African country to access the retail market in the US was a plus for the country. He said that the road-show for the Diaspora bond had some positive impact on the use of the existing Eurobonds.

This, according to him, is “because many investors in the international market were pressed with additional improvements that have taken place in policy and operation in Nigeria based on the road-show, the marketing and the story we told during the road show”. (Vanguard)

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