Nigeria is looking for
financial and legal advisers and trustee firms to organize its first Islamic
bond in the domestic market, the country's Debt Management Office (DMO) said on
Monday.
Reuters
report continues:
The
OPEC member, which is Africa's largest economy, is working on a debut sovereign
sukuk but has yet to determine the size of a potential deal.
Nigeria,
which is in a recession and needs to raise funds to plug a budget deficit, has
set up a government committee to advise on the amount to be raised from the
Islamic bond sale, the timing and jurisdiction of the issue.
Issuance
of a sovereign sukuk is part of a plan by Nigeria's debt office to develop
alternative sources of funding and to establish a benchmark curve.
In
a public notice, the DMO said it required the services of banks and an issuing
house to serve as financial adviser, a legal firm to serve as a legal adviser
and a trustee firm. It said bids for the roles are to be submitted by Jan. 9.
The
advisers are expected to work with the debt office towards the sukuk issue at a
date that is yet to be announced.
In
October, the central bank issued guidelines limiting commercial banks'
investment in Islamic bonds issued by state governments to 10 percent of the
total amount on offer and fixed a maximum tenor of 10 years for the bonds.
Nigeria has the largest Islamic population in sub-Saharan Africa. Around half of the 180 million people in Africa's most populous nation are Muslims.
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