Senegal plans $200m sovereign Islamic bond
Senegal will likely
launch a debut sovereign Islamic bond in 2011 of around $200 million,
said the chief operating officer at the Islamic Corporation for the
Development of the Private Sector (ICD).
ICD, a member of
the Islamic Development Bank, has been mandated to work on the Islamic
bond, or sukuk, and while the exact size has not been fixed yet, it
will be around $200 million, Ahmed Khizer Khan told reporters on the
sidelines of a conference in Dubai.
“The mandate has
been signed; you have to work with the government to see when the best
time is. It depends on the government but we’d like to do it the
sooner, the better,” Mr. Khan said.
Sources told Reuters in November Citibank is also serving as an arranger on the planned sukuk.
Senegal is one of a
number of African nations looking to enter the nearly $1 trillion
Islamic finance market. Nations from South Africa to Kenya are
revamping laws to accommodate sukuk transactions in a bid to attract
more Middle Eastern funds.
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