Nigeria to issue first green bond to fund agric, renewable energy

The Nigerian Government will finally go ahead with the issue of a "green" bond which was postponed from an initial date at the end of March because the budget had to be passed first. The green bond, if successful, will be the first for an emerging market country.
 
President Muhamadu Buhari
Amina Mohammed, a former environment minister and now Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), who disclosed this to the international press on the sidelines of a U.N. conference in Mexico on disaster risk reduction, recently, said proceeds from the sovereign bond would be used to fund agriculture and renewable energy, among other projects.

The green bond, expected to raise about N20 billion ($63.6 million) from its first tranche, could lay the groundwork for other African countries to follow suit, she added.

"We've just had the budget approved, so I believe Nigeria will look, probably within the next few weeks, to doing (the bond issue)," Mohammed said.

Announcing the plan for the bond in February, the environment ministry said it was aimed at widening Nigeria's funding options and diversifying the OPEC member's oil-dependent economy, which is the largest in Africa.

Peter Tarfa, director of the climate change department in the environment ministry, told a separate conference in Barcelona this week that the bond would be launched in the coming month, and would generate resources for climate change projects, including forest-planting and a mass rapid transit system.


The total amount raised, including a second tranche targeted for September, would be more than N45 billion, he said.

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