According to Lamido Yuguda, the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), outstanding Sukuk made up 57% of the expected $2.9 billion that the Islamic financing sector of the financial industry achieved by the end of 2022.
42% went to Islamic banks, and the remaining 1% was divided between takaful and Islamic funds.
In a welcome speech given yesterday at a current forum on non-interest capital market holding in Abuja, Yuguda revealed this information.
Yuguda claims that the development demonstrates how small the Nigerian market is in relation to the global non-interest industry—just 0.9%—and highlights the urgent need for further expansion.
He continued by saying that Nigeria has enormous long-term potential for Islamic finance due to its vast population and sizable unbanked population.
“The Nigerian non-interest (Islamic) capital market (NICM) has experienced revolutionary growth, emerging as a crucial component of our financial system and providing a unique platform for morally sound and shari’ah-compliant investing.
“The Newly Intended Capital Market Master Plan of 2021–2025 aligns with the NICM’s contribution to financial market diversity,” he stated.
The SEC DG clarified that the Debt Management Office (DMO) had raised about N1 trillion to finance more than 5,000 kilometers of vital roads and bridges since the introduction of Sukuk in Nigeria in 2017.
He promised that because NICM is so important to the current economic strategy being carried out by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, all parties involved must support it.
Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy opened the event and invited participants to provide workable ideas that would help the government achieve financial sustainability and realign the economy.
