Ministry Bullish on Green Bond, Discusses Projects with Green Potential

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Alhaji Hassan Bukar has expressed optimism that the planned N20billion Green Bond to be issued by the federal government will be successful.

His optimism is hinged on the nature of the projects to be financed with proceeds of the bond.

Bukar recently held a briefing session with Permanent Secretaries from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that have projects in their 2017 budgets with green credentials.

According to him, these projects have been selected through an iterative process conducted by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change (ICCC). The ICCC is chaired by the Ministry of Environment.

He explained that the amount of the bond to would be at least N20 billion. He pointed out that the green bond guidelines provided the basis for project selec- tion and that there are other projects in the pipeline which, although not ready, are being reviewed in order for inclusion in the next round of funding. The green bond is in the borrowing plan for 2017 and the projects are also in the budget.

At the meeting also, Senior Assistant, Technical to the Honorable Minister of Envi- ronment, Ms. Hadiza Elayo, disclosed that the World Bank, United Nations Environment Programme and DfID- Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF) continue to provide technical support. She added that a Green Bond Advisory Groups is also in place and includes leading capital market operators and the Debt Management Office (DMO) to guide the issuance steps.

On his part, Adviser to the Honorable Minister on Climate Finance, Mr. Obi Ugochuku, provided details on the projects, saying that are in three ministries Power, Federal Capital Territory (FCT)-Transport and Environment with five associated projects.