Algeria will issue its first-ever sovereign sukuk, worth $2.3 billion, early in November this year, according to a government document seen by Reuters and a source familiar with the matter.

The sukuk issuance is part of the North African country’s efforts to diversify its financing sources and deepen domestic financial markets, amid ongoing economic reforms aimed at reducing reliance on oil revenues.

The subscription process is scheduled to begin on November 2 and extend over two months, the finance ministry document showed.

It will be opened to Algerians residing inside and outside the country. Foreign investors are excluded.

The total value of the issuance, which will be backed by state-owned real estate assets, is set at about 296 billion Algerian dinars ($2.31 billion).

The sukuk will carry a fixed annual lease return of 6%, paid to investors for a term of seven years.

The move is widely seen as crucial for Algeria’s expansion of Islamic finance and its goal of attracting funds from outside the conventional banking sector.