Economy
Moody’s Assigns GB1 to Nigeria’s Green Bonds
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Nigeria’s senior unsecured green notes have been assigned a Green Bond Assessment of GB1 (Excellent) by Moody’s Investors Service.
A statement issued by the rating agency disclosed that the GB1 grade is supported by a full allocation of proceeds to renewable energy and afforestation projects that qualify under Nigeria’s domestic green bond guidelines and international green bond taxonomies, including the Green Bond Principles and Climate Bond Initiative’s (CBI) Climate Bond Standard.
On December 18, 2017, Nigeria will launch the Series 1 green bond of 10.69 billion, with precise coupons and maturities to be determined at the time of closing.
The green notes will represent the Nigerian government’s debut offering under its N150 billion green bond program and is expected to be listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). It will also mark the first sovereign green bond issuance in Africa, and the fourth on record globally.
Nigeria is the largest economy is Africa, generating a gross domestic product of $405.9 billion, in nominal terms, last year.
The country is also the continent’s most populous, with an estimated population of over 180 million and has been actively engaged in international climate policy negotiations since it became a Party to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change in 1994, and is a signatory to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
“In preparation for Africa’s maiden sovereign green bond, the Government of Nigeria has put in place a comprehensive governance structure and framework that is aligned with the country’s domestic green bond guidelines and international best practices,” says Rahul Ghosh, a Moody’s Senior Vice President.
“Robust disclosure practices, including expectations of ongoing and granular reporting over the life of the bond, will facilitate the implementation of Nigeria’s Paris Agreement commitments,” adds Charles Berckmann, Assistant Vice President and lead analyst in Moody’s Green Bond Assessment team.
Moody’s said further bolstering the GB1 grade is the government’s comprehensive organization and governance structure, which includes a formal green bond framework and explicit guidelines on eligible categories, project evaluation and selection criteria, and oversight from internal bodies and external organizations.
To support the green bond initiative, the government has set up a Green Bond Private Public Sector Advisory that is comprised of external development partners, independent regulators, capital market operators and relevant ministries.
The development partners include the World Bank, International Finance Corporation, African Development Bank, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the CBI.
The disclosure on use of proceeds practices are robust overall, providing a strong level of detail on project descriptions, applied methodologies, and intended benefits. The government has provided portfolio-level technical reports for each of the three programs that will be financed with the green bond proceeds.
Each report contains comprehensive program descriptions, assessments of the environmental, financial and economic impacts and an evaluation of safeguards and social implications. The funding in place to complete the projects appears adequate, despite the government’s weak fiscal position and recent track record of enacting significant capital expenditure cuts.
The Nigerian authorities have adopted a clear internal process and formal set of administrative policies designed to manage the segregation and tracking of green bond proceeds. This includes the creation of a centralized Green Bonds Proceeds Account held at the Central Bank of Nigeria, and individual sub-accounts for specific environmental projects. Any unallocated proceeds will be held in accordance with the government’s normal liquidity management policy, which comprises of investments in cash, short-term deposits and other short-term liquidity instruments. One area of slight weakness is the lack of an unequivocally independent internal audit of the centralized and sub-accounts.
The government has committed to bi-annual reporting, initially within one year of the issuance and subsequently until full allocation of the proceeds.
Furthermore, it has signalled its intention to provide ongoing disclosure over the life of the bond, and potentially afterwards given that green project metrics will be used to track the annual performance of Nigeria’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, which runs until 2030.
While the NDC targets will be reported on an aggregated basis, the authorities have indicated that reporting on the green bonds will be provided at a project level. The government has also indicated that the annual reports will be segregated by the relevant green bond and, as such, subsequent issuances would be covered in separate annual reporting.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The acquisition of the Bullet brand portfolio from Sun Mark has been completed by Champion Breweries Plc, a statement from the company confirms.
This marks a transformative milestone in the organisation’s strategic expansion into a diversified, pan-African beverage platform.
With this development, Champion Breweries now owns the Bullet brand assets, trademarks, formulations, and commercial rights globally through an asset carve-out structure.
The assets are held in a newly incorporated entity in the Netherlands, in which Champion Breweries holds a majority interest, while Vinar N.V., the majority shareholder of Sun Mark, retains a minority stake.
Bullet products are currently distributed in 14 African markets, positioning Champion Breweries to scale beyond Nigeria in the high-growth ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic and energy drink segments.
This expansion significantly broadens the brewer’s addressable market and strengthens its revenue base with an established, profitable portfolio that already enjoys strong brand recognition and consumer loyalty across multiple markets.
“The successful completion of our public equity raises, together with the formal close of the Bullet acquisition, marks a defining moment for Champion Breweries.
“The support we received from both existing shareholders and new investors reflects strong confidence in our long-term strategy to build a diversified, high-growth beverage platform with pan-African scale.
“Our focus now is on disciplined execution, integration, and delivering sustained value across markets,” the chairman of Champion Breweries, Mr Imo-Abasi Jacob, stated.
Through this transaction, Champion Breweries is expected to achieve enhanced foreign exchange earnings, expanded distribution leverage across African markets, integrated supply chain efficiencies, portfolio diversification into high‑growth consumer beverage categories, and strengthened presence in the RTD and energy drink segments.
The acquisition accelerates Champion Breweries’ transition from a regional brewing business to a multi-category consumer platform with continental reach.
Bullet Black is Nigeria’s leading ready-to-drink alcoholic beverage, while Bullet Blue has built a strong presence in the energy drink category across several African markets.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Emerging market fintech firm, M-KOPA, has announced plans to deepen its reach in Nigeria to the South South and South East regions, starting with Edo this year, after providing N231 billion in credit to over 1 million customers in the country.
The firm released its first Nigeria-focused Impact Report, which showed that Nigeria is M-KOPA’s fastest-growing market and fastest to reach the milestone.
Since its foray into the Nigerian market in 2019, M-KOPA has been working to dismantle barriers to financial inclusion by providing flexible smartphone financing and digital financial tools that align with how people in the informal economy earn and manage their money.
It operates in six states in the country, including Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo, among others.
The report highlights the company’s contribution to income generation, digital inclusion and economic opportunity for Every Day Earners across the country.
The report showed that M-KOPA has enabled 290,000 first-time smartphone users, while 56 per cent of agents accessed their first income opportunity through the platform.
It showed high income and livelihood gains among its users, with about 77 per cent of customers leveraging smartphones or digital loans obtained through the platform to generate income, indicating that access to financed devices is directly supporting micro-entrepreneurial activity and informal sector productivity.
Furthermore, 75 per cent of users report higher earnings since gaining access to M-KOPA’s services, suggesting measurable improvements in personal revenue streams. On the distribution side, 99 per cent of agents disclose increased earnings, reflecting positive spillover effects across the company’s value chain.
In addition, 81 per cent of long-term customers state that their household expenses have improved, pointing to enhanced financial stability and better consumption smoothing over time.
Speaking on the report, Mr Babajide Duroshola, General Manager, M-KOPA Nigeria, said, “Nigeria represents extraordinary potential, and we’re proud that it has become M-KOPA’s fastest-growing market. Our Impact Report shows that when Every Day Earners gain access to the right digital and financial tools, they use them to create stability and long-term progress for their families. This is about access that unlocks opportunity and sustained prosperity.”
On its expansion plans Nigeria-wide, the M-KOPA helmsman said, “Many of the states we are considering are already similar to the ones we are currently in proximity… So, there is proximity and similarity between these states, and that’s what we are going to do, starting with Edo.”
He noted that as M-KOPA Nigeria continues to expand, the focus remains on ensuring more everyday earners gain access to the digital and financial tools they need to build resilient, prosperous futures in Nigeria’s rapidly digitising economy.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The ban on the export of raw shea nuts from Nigeria has been extended by one year by President Bola Tinubu.
A statement from the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Wednesday disclosed that the ban is now till February 25, 2027.
It was emphasised that this decision underscores the administration’s commitment to advancing industrial development, strengthening domestic value addition, and supporting the objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
The ban aims to deepen processing capacity within Nigeria, enhance livelihoods in shea-producing communities, and promote the growth of Nigerian exports anchored on value-added products, the statement noted.
To further these objectives, President Tinubu has authorised the two Ministers of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and the Presidential Food Security Coordination Unit (PFSCU), to coordinate the implementation of a unified, evidence-based national framework that aligns industrialisation, trade, and investment priorities across the shea nut value chain.
He also approved the adoption of an export framework established by the Nigerian Commodity Exchange (NCX) and the withdrawal of all waivers allowing the direct export of raw shea nuts.
The President directed that any excess supply of raw shea nuts should be exported exclusively through the NCX framework, in accordance with the approved guidelines.
Additionally, he directed the Federal Ministry of Finance to provide access to a dedicated NESS Support Window to enable the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to pilot a Livelihood Finance Mechanism to strengthen production and processing capacity.
Shea nuts, the oil-rich fruits from the shea tree common in the Savanna belt of Nigeria, are the raw material for shea butter, renowned for its moisturising, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. The extracted butter is a principal ingredient in cosmetics for skin and hair, as well as in edible cooking oil. The Federal Government encourages processing shea nuts into butter locally, as butter fetches between 10 and 20 times the price of the raw nuts.
The federal government said it remains committed to policies that promote inclusive growth, local manufacturing and position Nigeria as a competitive participant in global agricultural value chains.
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