The Debt Management Office (DMO), acting for the Federal Government (FG), has announced a N50 billion Green Bond offering.
The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Ms. Patience Oniha, informed investors at a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos yesterday that the funds would be allocated to various climate-friendly initiatives across the country, including renewable energy, afforestation, dam projects, and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) development.
The Green Bond has a five-year term and will be priced in line with the FGN Savings Bond, which is actively traded in Nigeria’s capital market.
The Director-General emphasized the instrument’s importance, stating that all proceeds would fund projects aimed at reducing the impact of climate change in Nigeria.
She stated, “It is tied to the global policy on Climate Change and looking after the environmental because Nigeria is committed to the global agreements on Climate Change.”
She highlighted Nigeria’s leadership in issuing Sovereign Green Bonds, noting that the country was the first in Africa to do so, raising N10.69 billion in 2017 and N15 billion in 2019. Oniha said the N25.69 billion raised from the earlier two series went into supporting renewables, afforestation, education, and micro-utilities.
“The government continues to mobilize domestic and international climate finance to scale up mitigation and adaptation efforts,” she added.
In response to journalists’ questions, Oniha expressed her Office’s readiness to issue Green Bonds regularly, but noted that such issuances would depend on provisions in the federal government’s budget.
She encouraged other corporate entities to follow the federal government’s lead in issuing Green Bonds, emphasizing that such efforts are essential for effectively addressing the various challenges of climate change facing the nation.
Oniha revealed that investment in the N50 billion Sovereign Green Bond would require a minimum subscription of N10 million, with additional investments in multiples of N1 million.
In her presentation, Dr. Iniobong Awe, Director of Climate Change at the Federal Ministry of Environment, highlighted the serious threat of desert encroachment in Northern Nigeria, which is impacting both people and livestock.
She affirmed the federal government’s commitment to the Climate Change Act of 2021 and the goal of achieving Net Zero emissions by 2060. This commitment, she noted, is backed by key policies including the Nigerian Carbon Market Initiative, the Green Bond Initiative, the National Council on Climate Change, and the Renewable Energy Policy.
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