As we continue to grapple with the health and economic impacts of COVID-19, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE or The Exchange) is sounding the call to significantly shift and scale up green finance and investment in Nigeria and West Africa. This was made known by the Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar N. Onyema, OON, at the first webinar in Sustainable Capital Markets Forum for West Africa series organised by The Exchange in partnership with the Milken Institute which held on Friday, 05 June 2020.
The event with the theme, “Fundamentals of Developing Green Bond Markets” kicked off with the Executive Director, Global Development and Partnerships, Milken Institute, Ms. Staci Warden sounding the closing gong of The Exchange to commemorate World Environment Day 2020. With over 550 local and international participants in attendance, the discussions of the day were centered around the critical need for West African countries to leverage the capital market and transition into low-carbon and climate-resilient economies.
In highlighting the urgent need for action, Mr. Onyema said, “It is important to leverage collaborations and forums to promote knowledge exchange and capacity building, that will accelerate the pace for West Africa to formulate an effective policy framework and develop a market for sustainable finance. Given the strong correlation between climate change and the major sources of livelihoods of many countries in West Africa – agriculture and forestry – there is an urgent need to accelerate actions on the necessary adjustments needed to safeguard our ecosystems. We must, therefore, begin to deploy innovative sustainable finance solutions and facilitate the enabling environment that will position us to mobilize requisite investments in sectors such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, as well as water and solid waste treatment.”
Speaking to the tremendous potential for sustainable finance, Ms. Warden stated, “Looking closely at the African case, we recognize that the resources, talent, and technology required to address critical climate change issues, but the finance remains lacking. We have seen a 60-fold increase in green financing globally in the last seven years but Africa contributes less than 1% to the total figure with South Africa and Nigeria being the major contributors. It is, therefore, imperative that more exchanges act decisively and galvanise the necessary stakeholders to leverage the enormous opportunities for the continent. I applaud the NSE for demonstrating its leadership by bringing its technical know-how to the fore in order to increasingly match capital with green finance solutions.”
To address the topic, “Creating Credible Green Bond Markets”, the webinar featured a panel session with Justine Leigh-Bell, Deputy CEO and Director of Market Development, Climate Bonds Initiative, Denise Odaro, Head of Investor Relations, IFC, and Jeroen Verleun, Senior Investment Manager, PGGM, moderated by Alison Harwood, Senior Fellow in Residence, Milken Institute. A major highlight from this session was the need for issuers to uphold Economic, Social, and Governance standards in developing evaluating and marketing green bonds.
The second-panel session addressed, “Building Nigeria’s Green Bond Market,” with the following panelists: Jude Chiemeka, Divisional Head, Trading Business, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Abbas Abdulkadir, Deputy Director and Head, Securities and Investment Services, Securities and Exchange Commission, Halima Bawa-Bwari, Deputy Director for Vulnerability and Adaptation, Department of Climate Change, Federal Ministry of Environment, Dr. Greg Jobome, Executive Director, Risk Management, Access Bank, and Eric Fajemisin, CEO, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers. During this session, it was emphasized that the growth of sustainable finance will be dependent on the collaborative efforts of critical stakeholders to create an enabling regulatory environment and build the right infrastructure to support corporate and sovereign issuances.
Also in attendance at the webinar was the Director-General, Debt Management Office, Ms. Patience Oniha. She commended the NSE and Milken Institute for their commitment to improving knowledge and creating awareness on sustainable finance. She further went on to recognise the efforts of stakeholders such as the Securities Exchange Commission, Federal Ministry of Environment, and Access Bank Plc for leading the charge to develop Nigeria’s Green Bonds market.