Senate, SEC To Host Summit On Municipal Bonds, Sukuk For Infrastructure Devt

The Senate Committee on Capital Markets and Institutions, in collaboration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is set to host a national stakeholders summit on Municipal Bonds and Sukuk for local government Infrastructural Development.

The summit, scheduled for September 29 and 30, 2025, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, aims to explore how municipal bonds and Sukuk can unlock new funding for infrastructure development at the local government level.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Senator Osita Izunaso said, “the summit themed ‘$1 Trillion Nigerian Economy: Infrastructure Financing through the Capital Market’ will bring together key players from government, regulators, investors, and the private sector to explore how municipal bonds and Sukuk can unlock new funding for roads, healthcare, housing, water, education, and transport at the local government level.

These instruments Izunaso stated, offer sustainable, market-based alternatives to traditional funding and have been successfully deployed globally.

The Chairman stressed that empowering local governments through the capital market will reduce reliance on federal allocations, promote fiscal independence, create jobs, and accelerate Nigeria’s progress toward a $1 trillion economy.

The director-general of the SEC, Dr. Emomotimi Agama, stated that Nigeria’s infrastructure gap demands capital market solutions like bonds and Sukuk, which provide long-term funding with stable investor returns.

He said, “The infrastructural gap in Nigeria can be met effectively through Capital Market Funding, adding that the summit is one of the ways to create awareness for stakeholders on some of the benefits of municipal bonds and sukuk, among others.”

According to the SEC DG, bonds are essentially long-term debt instruments in any structured economy geared primarily to guarantee access to potential resources for the government or company’s infrastructure / developmental purposes and also provide an outlet for investors to enjoy stable returns.

Agama stated that the Nigerian bond market has become more popular as Governments and corporate institutions embrace it to raise funds for crucial projects and business expansion/working capital requirements, respectively.

“Given the paucity of revenue to finance necessary developmental infrastructure and services in the country in recent times, the government at all levels need to take advantage of the opportunity available in the capital market through the issuance of bonds to access funds for developmental purposes” he stated.

The summit’s primary goal is to explore how Nigeria can build a robust municipal bond and Sukuk market to support local government infrastructure.

The event also seeks to create a comprehensive strategy for developing a well-functioning municipal bond and Sukuk market in Nigeria that is adaptable to the country’s local government framework and promotes collaboration among government agencies, financial institutions, investors, and other market participants. This will help create a sustainable financing ecosystem for local governments and provide actionable policy recommendations and regulatory reforms that would enable and facilitate local governments’ issuance of municipal bonds and sukuk.