Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A total of N150 billion green bonds are expected to be issued by 2021 by Access Bank, with the first tranche of N15 billion to be floated in the first quarter of this year.
If successful, Access Bank will become the first company to issue a corporate green bond in the country.
In 2017, the Nigerian government sold the first green bond worth N10.7 billion and in 2018, the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange launched the Nigerian Green Bond Market Development Programme to encourage private companies to sell climate-related debts.
A green bond is a bond specifically earmarked to be used for climate and environmental projects.
As one of the major producer of oil in the world, green bonds has been part of the plans to cut emissions and meet its obligations to the Paris agreement on the environment.
In a report yesterday, Bloomberg said those familiar with talks on the corporate green bonds at Access Bank said the financial institution will use proceeds from the exercise to fund climate-related programmes.
