The Debt Management Office (DMO), on Thursday announced plans to embark on a national road shows beginning with Lagos ahead of issuance of the much awaited N100bn non-interest bearing Sukuk bond. The road show is to create awareness about the sovereign Sukuk and sensitise target investors about its features and benefits.
In a statement, the Director-General, Ms Patience Oniha, said apart from Lagos, other key cities including Kano, Kaduna and Port Harcourt will be visited with the message.
DMO also said the team would be accompanied by its financial advisers, Lotus Capital Financial Services Ltd. and FBN Merchant Bank Plc.
The road show is stemming from DMO’s intention to issue a sovereign Sukuk in the domestic market as part of measures to fund the 2017 budget deficit.
The statement said in parts; “Apart from serving as an alternative source of funding for the government, the Sukuk will also serve to diversify the investor base for Federal Government securities, promote financial inclusion and deepen the domestic capital market”.
“It is expected that the Sukuk will attract huge subscriptions from a wide range of institutional and retail investors including fund managers, associations and groups.
“The offer for subscription will open in the week after the road-show and will be advertised in major newspapers,’’ the statement said.
However, to have a wider reach, DMO said accessibility will hit a wide spectrum of Nigerians, the minimum amount that an investor can purchase has been fixed at N10, 000 only.