FG Holds Inaugural Green Bond Advisory Group Meeting

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Federal Government on Thursday, held the debut green bond public private advisory group meeting as part of steps to issue its first sovereign green bond.

The meeting was hosted by the Minister of Environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed, in partnership with her counterpart in the Ministry of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun.

Speaking at the event, Mrs Mohammed explained that the advisory group will provide advice and also identify likely impediments to the issuance process and provide guidance on how projects can be certified ‘Green.’

She said the group will give support to the Federal Ministry of Environment in its implementation of the Green Bond guidelines in order to maintain a process that is transparent and consistent.

Participants on the advisory group were drawn from investments banks, developments banks, issuance house, MDAs and capital market regulators.

According to her, the green bond will help Nigeria tap into the growing global market for green bonds which is estimated to have reached $100 billion by the end of 2016.

Both Ministers in consultation with experts and key actors have agreed a number of key requirements in the issuance of this green bond.

These are; the projects should be green in nature, the project cost should form part of the Medium Term Sector Strategies (MTSS) of selected Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the project should have a defined revenue model or economic impact that generates resources that will be used to service the green bond and the emissions contributions of the projects should be calculated and documented.

A Sub-set of Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change (ICCC) was tasked to identify the pipeline of projects with ‘Green Credentials’ that will be funded by the Green bond.

The MDAs in this sub-set are Environment (FRIN, CCD, DDA, FOR, GGW), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT-Transport), Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR) and Federal Ministry of Works Power and Housing (FMWPH).

It was agreed that a high-impact stakeholders meeting with capital market operators and investors will hold in Lagos at the end of February 2017.