Sukuk – or Islamic bonds – may be
the new eurobonds, as Kenya becomes the latest in a long line
of African countries to announce plans to issue one. It is
currently amending banking legislation to accommodate this,
claiming its maiden issuance can be expected in the next 18
months.
Governments in
Senegal,
South Africa and most recently the
Ivory Coast have all entered the Islamic debt markets in
the past 24 months, and
Nigeria’s plans are well underway after its
Osun State issued the country’s first
sukuk – though naira-denominated –
in 2013.
Advisory board member to the UK Islamic Finance Council
(UKIFC) Omar Shaikh, who has been advising the Kenyan Capital
Markets Authority, said it has also been looking to the example
set by the UK. The UK government issued a heavily
oversubscribed sukuk in...