TAJBank Limited, Nigeria’s leading non-interest lender, has formalised the kick off its N100 billion Sukuk bond issuance with the signing of all the parties for issuance of the first ever non-interest private Sukuk bond offer in the nation’s capital market.
The Bank has secured all regulatory approvals required for opening the Sukuk to the general public and the bond will be listed on the Nigerian Exchange.
Speaking during the event at the bank’s headquarters in Abuja, the bank’s managing director/chief executive officer, Mr. Hamid Joda, described the bank’s latest investment initiative as a very important milestone in the annals of Nigeria’s capital market development and assured investors of good returns on their investment in the TAJBank Sukuk bond.
He explained: “The Sukuk bond issuance by TAJ Bank is a very important milestone in the history of Nigeria’s capital market. I believe that after this issuance, we will see a number of companies in the Nigerian market coming out to issue Sukuk bonds and that will lead to deepening of the non-interest market and eventually economic development of Nigeria.
“My message to the investing public is to take advantage of the opportunity in view of its potential for good returns. The instrument is coming out at an expected rate of 15 per cent. It is also an ethical instrument and there are very few ethical instruments out there and I believe a lot of investors are looking for instruments that have ethical leaning”, Joda assured.
In his remarks, the bank’s executive director, Mr. Sheriff Idi, also stressed the importance of the Sukuk bond to the TAJ Bank’s operations, capacity to provide financial support to needy enterprises with the attendant positive implications for the nation’s economic growth.
The non-interest banking expert clarified: “In the last two years of the bank’s operations we have raised additional capital apart from the Sukuk we are issuing now. With the Sukuk bond issuance, we wanted to raise TAJ Bank’s capital base to about N30 billion by the end of the year and that means we can now finance those sectors that probably some initially thought we cannot provide funding support. That is the essence of this Sukuk bond issuance.”
The bank’s chairman, Alhaji Tanko Isiaku Gwamna, further clarified: “The funds raised through the Sukuk bond and innovative deployment to needy sectors of the economy will help to create jobs, boost economic activities and improve the non-interest banking sub sector’s contributions to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the years ahead.”
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