The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, acting through the Ministry of Economy and Finance has closed an inaugural local currency, CFA 150 Billion (USD 244 million) Sukuk al-Ijara (“Sukuk”).
The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (“ICD”), an arm of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank, acted as the Lead Arranger.
The sukuk with a five‐year maturity was subscribed by regional and international institutional investors. Retail investors from the eight members West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) have also subscribed.
The CEO of ICD, Khaled Mohammed Al Aboodi commented: “The ICD will do its best to contribute in the transformation of the WAEMU Capital Market. ICD is committed to promote and increase substantially the volume of Islamic financing transactions toward the economies of the Union.”
As Lead Arranger, ICD was mandated by the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to structure a Sukuk Program, appoint and coordinate with other consultants, liaise with Government officials and oversee the entire process of the Sukuk offering. The ICD is playing a major role in helping African countries enter the market. With the assistance of ICD, Senegal issued WAEMU’s debut Sovereign sukuk to the regional market. This paved the way for other Western African countries to consider Sukuk as alternative financing tool.
The economic prospect of Cote d’Ivoire was attractive to Middle-Eastern and North African buyers. Region-wise, 56 percent of Sukuk was allocated to West Africa and 6 percent to North Africa while Middle-Eastern buyers snapped up to 38 percent.
This landmark transaction won recently two awards, namely “Sukuk Deal of the Year (2015)” and “Africa deal of the year (2015)” which are presented by “Islamic Finance News (IFN)”
The mandate of ICD is to support economic development and promote the development of the private sector in its member countries through providing financing facilities and/or investments which are in accordance with the principles of Shari’a. ICD also provides advice to Governments and private organizations to encourage the establishment, expansion and modernization of private enterprises.
