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Dec 07 2011

South Africa invites suitors for maiden sovereign Sukuk

By John Foster 30 November 2011

As The Islamic Globe reported in October, South Africa is on the cusp of issuing its maiden Sukuk and yesterday the National Treasury requested lenders to submit proposals forthe structuring and issuance of a local and international Sukuk by December 21.

The process is due to close on January20, 2012 when the winning arrangers will be announced.

"There is great interest in the Sukukmarket and this is the first step towards meeting the growing appetite for government-backed Shari'ah compliant investments," Lungisa Fuzile, DG of theNational Treasury, said in the finance ministry's mid-term budget statement onOctober 25.

The Treasury said it was exploring Sukuk in order to diversify its funding and investor base.

Islamic finance is spreading like wildfire across sub-Saharan Africa, with Kenya,Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda competing for hub status in east Africa, Nigeria's population of 250m is clamoring for Shari'ah compliant banking and Ghana,Gabon, Mali and The Gambia all opening up for Islamic finance business to agreater or lesser extent. South Africa, one of the continent's old hands at Islamic finance is leading the charge along with Senegal, which announced its own $200m sovereign Sukuk that closes this month.


© The Islamic Globe 2011

© Copyright Zawya. All Rights Reserved.


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