The Kogi State Government has announced plans to raise N50 billion through a sukuk issuance to fund the construction of an international airport and a modern international market, to begin by March 2026.
The disclosure was made by Governor Ahmed at an investor engagement and market sensitisation forum held in Abuja, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The planned sukuk is expected to serve as the administration’s flagship infrastructure financing strategy, aimed at accelerating economic transformation and boosting internally generated revenue.
The state government says the sukuk will be fully asset-backed and deployed strictly for infrastructure development, in line with Islamic finance principles.
The Kogi State Government says the sukuk is designed as a transparent, infrastructure-focused instrument targeted at long-term economic growth.
State officials and transaction advisers emphasised that the projects are revenue-generating assets capable of supporting repayment over time.
“This N50 billion sukuk is for infrastructure, not consumption,” said the Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Mr Asiru Idris.
“Today, we are presenting a clear and transparent investment proposition. It is specifically for the Kogi State International Airport and the Lokoja International Market,” Idris added.
Describing the issuance as a textbook infrastructure sukuk, AVA Capital Group Managing Director, Mr Kayode Fadahunsi, said the projects “can pay themselves down and expand Kogi’s Internally Generated Revenue,” he said.
The speakers maintained that governance structures and regulatory oversight would be central to the success of the issuance.
Kogi State has, over the years, struggled with limited large-scale infrastructure despite its strategic location linking northern and southern Nigeria.
Successive administrations have highlighted the need for transport, logistics and commercial infrastructure to unlock the state’s economic potential and attract private investment.
