By Sodeinde Temidayo David
Nigeria, through the FMDQ Securities Exchange, has launched its first noted green exchange. The exchange was launched on November 7 in an effort to tap into the opportunities in the green and sustainable finance market.
To enhance the market, the FMDQ Group signed a partnership with the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX) to promote the dual listing of securities and spotlight green and sustainable securities.
The Luxembourg Green Exchange is the world’s first platform dedicated entirely to sustainable securities, as its lists 50 per cent of the world green bonds in a total of 32 currencies.
Following the success of the launch of the Nigeria green exchange, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, noted that it was a step in the right direction for mainstreaming finance and development in Africa and is a huge win for Nigeria especially as it is happening in this period of COP26.
Expressing optimism, he noted, “as of August 2020, the LGX displayed 796 green, social and sustainable securities totalling $356 billion and as the first exchange to be launched in Africa, we see the potential impact that the FMDQ green exchange can also have in solving our most pressing problems and we urge them to deliver no less than a similar level of leadership and a greater success story for the region.”
Nigeria has committed to the SDGs and the net-zero agenda and rightly so because to achieve these lofty goals, funding is required, the Lagos State Governor affirmed in his speech.
He, however, stated that public funding alone will not suffice and added that private capital needs to be mobilized to reach the objectives defined in the Paris climate agreement and the UNSDGs.
“The financial sector will therefore need to play a vital role in accelerating local marketability to provide the required support. It is just this opportunity that FMDQ green exchange is embracing and creating by expanding green blue sustainability funding options as alternative options of funding for projects and assets not just in Lagos but across the African region.
“The Lagos state government believes that the launch of the green exchange will open up options especially unlocking sustainable investment opportunities for investors,” Mr Sanwo-Olu noted.
Also speaking on the development, the Chief Executive Officer, FMDQ Group, Mr Bola Onadele, expressed that the group recognizes the imperative role it plays in the Nigerian financial market.
According to the CEO, this includes the opportunities its business represents in its ability to promote sustainable economic growth and development and as such understands that the delivery of long term business success, value creation and prosperity is not only hinged on financial but also on environmental and social performance.
Mr Onadele assured that the FMDQ green exchange which is Africa’s foremost green exchange will provide a one-stop depository for all green and sustainable debt securities listed on FMDQ which will, in turn, afford issuers with increased visibility throughout the life of these securities via the publication of relevant information and data.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka