Hogan Lovells has advised Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) as the lead arranger on the inaugural 150 billion CFA franc ($247 million) sukuk offering by the Ivory Coast government.

The amortising sukuk al-ijara is targeted at local banks and institutional investors. Ivory Coast announced in April last year that it would conduct a 300 billion CFA franc Islamic bond programme in two phases between 2015 and 2020.

The Hogan Lovells' team advising ICD was led by Islamic finance partners Rahail Ali and Imran Mufti in Dubai with assistance from debt capital markets partner Baptiste Gelp in Paris.