The Debt Management Office (DMO) has announced that the N300 billion Series VII Sovereign Sukuk it offered earlier this month has recorded an overwhelming subscription of N2.205 trillion, representing an excess of 735 per cent.

The DMO, which announced this in a statement posted on its official website yesterday, said the massive interest shown in the Sukuk issuance is clear evidence of the growing investor appetite for the non-interest, ethical investment instrument, which was first introduced in 2017.

The borrowing instrument was introduced as an innovative financing tool to broaden the nation’s investor base and encourage wider public participation in the capital market.

The N300 billion seven-year Ijarah Sukuk bond was meant to fund critical road and bridge infrastructure across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

According to the DMO, “It is clear evidence of investor-appetite for the ethical instrument we introduced in 2017 as an innovative strategy to expand the nation’s investor-base and provide opportunities for all Nigerians to participate in the activities of the capital market.”

It noted that analysis of the subscriptions showed that the subscribers cut across various segments of the public: retail, non-interest banks and financial institutions, banks, pension fund administrators, assets/fund managers, and others.

“Like the previous series, funds realised from the issuance will be used by the Federal Government to construct new roads and rehabilitate existing ones as well as build bridges in the six geopolitical zones of the country and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),” DMO stated.

The DMO said the successful outing aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, under which infrastructure development is a key priority for driving economic growth and national development.