As was expected, the N100 billion seven-year debut Sukuk offer by the Debt Management Office (DMO), which closed last week Friday, has been oversubscribed.

Sukuk, a project-tied investment facility attracted investors from across a broad spectrum of the public comprising pension funds, banks, fund managers, institutional and retail investors.

Reacting to the pleasant development, the Director General of DMO, Ms Patience Oniha, said that the acceptance of the offer was an indication of the viability of the instrument as an investment option as well as a demonstration of utmost faith in the economy.

She commended the Federal Government and, in particular, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, for the policy support that led to the success of this initial offer which industry watchers accept as another window that has opened for the government to raise funds to fill the nation’s yawning infrastructure gap.

In the run up to the offer, Nigerians developed tremendous enthusiasm as they embraced the investment instrument advertised nationwide through roadshows by officials from the DMO, Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, Abuja and Kaduna.

The awareness campaign which drew attention to the projects Sukuk aim at, the construction and rehabilitation of 25 roads across the six Geopolitical zones, aroused in the investors the patriotic fervour that led to the oversubscription.

Investment experts are optimistic that with this issuance, a new instrument, the Sovereign Sukuk, has been introduced to Nigeria’s capital market, and has added to the variety of products available for domestic issuers and investors.

They pointed out that Sukuk, as a novel investment platform, achieved one of its aims which is to offer new investors an opportunity to participate in Nigeria’s growing capital market. A look at the investors that subscribed for the Sovereign Sukuk revealed that another significant objective was achieved through the participation of over a thousand retail investors from across the nation who accounted for over four per cent of the total subscription.

With this positive development, the DMO is energised to continue with its role of meeting the Government’s funding needs as well as introducing new instruments to develop Nigeria’s capital market. Also, it is hoped that the success of this offer and the proceeds from it, will enable the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to commence work on the road projects in earnest.