SOUTH AFRICA: South Africa has issued US$500 million in Sukuk. According to the government’s treasury department, the paper was four times oversubscribed, with an order book of US$2.2 billion. The 5.75 year Sukuk was priced at a coupon rate of 3.9%, representing a spread of 180 bps above the corresponding mid-swap benchmark rate. Following the sale, National power utility company Eskom has said that the sovereign sale will be used as a benchmark in its own financing strategy while ports operator Transnet has expressed interest in tapping the Sukuk market.