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FMWH, FCTA receive N130bn Sukuk cheque from DMO
FMWH, FCTA receive N130bn Sukuk cheque from DMO
The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMWH) and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) have received cheques of N130 billion being Proceeds of the 2022 Sovereign Sukuk offer from the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The cheques were presented by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, at a ceremony held in her office in Abuja on Monday.
According to Ahmed, the issuance of sovereign Sukuk, a project-tied debt instrument, is one of the many innovative and very successful initiatives of the present administration.
Ahmed said it was aimed at financing the development of critical infrastructure.
She said that the facts on how much the initiative had helped to improve road infrastructure across the country were glaring.
“As of date, this administration has invested the sum of N612.557 billion raised through Sovereign Sukuk between 2017 and 2021 for the construction and rehabilitation of key economic road projects.
“The projects are in the six geo-political zones and the FCT.
“In real terms, the amount has been used to construct and rehabilitate sections of 71 road projects covering 2,808 kilometres and four bridges by the FMWH.
“It has also aided the construction of sections of six road projects covering 99 kilometres and 19 bridges by the FCTA,” she said.
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The minister said that FMWH and FCTA would be sharing N130 billion, being proceeds of 2022 Sukuk issue proceeds which were successfully issued by the DMO on behalf of the Federal Government.
She said that the release would form part of the 2022 budget, which implementation had been extended to March by the National Assembly
According to her, besides the immense contributions of Sukuk to the funding of critical road infrastructure, the objectives of deepening the domestic capital market and financial inclusion are being achieved by the government.
The Director-General of the DMO, Patience Oniha, said that the office started the journey toward issuing a Sovereign Sukuk some years back, diligently working with experts to get the process and documentation right.
According to Oniha, these efforts paid off with the issuance of the first Sovereign Sukuk of N100 billion in September 2017.
According to her, the DMO remains committed to its mandate and market development activities.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said that the Sovereign Sukuk had contributed immensely to raising badly needed funds for road projects across the country.
Fashola said that various construction companies, which had laid off many of the staff due to redundancy had recalled most of the staff members, partly due to the funding support from Sovereign Sukuk.
He commended the former finance minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, the incumbent Minister of Finance, as well as the DMO director-general for initiating and sustaining the Sukuk initiative.
