From Uche Usim, Abuja
The Debt Management Office (DMO) on Monday unveiled a N250 billion Sukuk IV bond meant to bridge the road infrastructure gap in the country.
The offer is 12.8%, 10-year Ijarah Sukuk due 2031. It opened on December 16 and will close on December 22, 2022.
Speaking at the event, the Director General of DMO, Patience Oniha said impact of Sukuk on the Nigerians roads could be felt by Nigerians, given its primary place in the economy.
According to her, the Office has already raised N2.89 trillion out of the anticipated domestic borrowing, adding that the balance of N250 billion was what the Sukuk offering was made to achieve.
She also allayed fears that the country was on the road to a debt trap because Nigeria’s public debt was being managed professionally and backed by the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) that determine approval limits.
She said: “We’re not depending on one source of funding and the loans are concessional. The Chinese loans are less than $4 billion.
“While we’re borrowing, we are also trying to increase revenues. You have to borrow to address the infrastructure gap. We are strongly focused on growing revenue”, she said.
Oniha, while giving examples of roads financed under Sukuk listed the construction of Southern Parkway from Christian Centre
(S8/9) to Ring Road I (RR I); Completion of Roads B6, B12 & Circle Road, Abuja
Central Area; Rehabilitation and expansion of Outer Southern
Expressway from Villa Roundabout to OSEX/Ring Road 1 (RR1) Junction including Four Nos. Interchange and Extension of Right and Left Hand Service Carriageways to Wasa Junction (Villa Roundabout – Osex/Shehu
Shagari Junction – Apo Roundabout – Wasa Junction, which gulped N37 billion.
N75 billion has been spent on the dualisation of East-West Road (Section II-I); Port Harcourt-Ahoada, 47Km; dualisation of East-West Road (Section II-II) Ahoada-
Kaiama, 54Km; upgrading of 15km of Section III from Port-Harcourt
Eleme Junction to Onne Port Junction, 15KmDualization Of East-West Road (Section IV) Eket-Oron, 51Km; Construction of Eket Bypass 9.75Km (dual carriageway); among others.
The DMO boss expressed confidence that investors will be heavily attracted to Sukuk IV just as the first three Sukuk offerings.
Also speaking at the event, the Deputy Director, Highway Planning and Development, Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr Yiltong David revealed that 60 major roads in Nigeria were currently being handled by Sukuk funds.
